Garba Deen Muhammad, current President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), has denied allegations that his predecessor, Femi Adesina, now the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media, collected N50 million in cash from former President Goodluck Jonathan.
According to Muhammed, the said amount was a donation from the former president at the N850 million fundraising dinner on April 10, 2014 for the building of a befitting secretariat to be known as the ‘Editors’ Plaza.’
THISDAY quoted Muhammad as saying in a statement:
“On 10 April, 2014, the NGE held a fundraising dinner at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, to raise N850 million for the purpose of building a befitting secretariat in Abuja which shall be called The Editors Plaza. It was a public event, attended by several dignitaries among them federal cabinet ministers, state governors and captains of industry or their representatives.
“Former President Goodluck Jonathan was invited to the event at which he was represented by the former Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr. Labaran Maku.
“At the event, Maku, among other donors, publicly pledged N50million as the federal government’s contribution towards the building project. Indeed the announcement of this donation has been on the website of the NGE since April 12, 2014; and is still there for those who may wish to verify.”
According to the statement, shortly after the event, the federal government redeemed its pledge through a transfer direct into the Zenith Bank account of the NGE.
“For the avoidance of doubt, neither Mr. Femi Adesina, who was the President of the guild at the time, nor any other official of the guild collected cash from the government.”
