The Nigerian Xpress has reacted to former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Obadiah Mailafia’s denial of the interview he granted to the budding newspaper, published on the cover of its Monday, April 29 edition.
In the rebuttal expressed on his Facebook page @Obadiah Mailafia, Dr. Mailafia had denied granting an interview to The Nigerian Xpress, claiming, “I have never had any contacts whatsoever with the Nigerian Xpress newspapers and have given an interview neither with its editors nor its reporters or hacks.”
But in a statement issued in response to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, the newspaper’s Editor, Abdulfatah Oladeinde, said it was very conscious of its image and would never publish fiction.
The statement reads: “With due respect to Dr. Obadiah Mailafia, The Nigerian Xpress is a serious newspaper with some of the brightest and most experienced journalists in the industry in its stable.
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“We are very conscious of our image and will never publish fiction.
“We await proper summons from the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO), the body statutorily charged with investigating and adjudicating on complaints against journalists, not the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), if you wish to take this further.
“Meanwhile, we wish to state categorically that it is not correct that you never granted an interview to our correspondent or did not express the views attributed to you in the interview with the headline, ‘BUHARI NO LONGER IN CONTROL’, published in the Monday, April 29, 2019 edition of the newspaper and available on our website www.thexpressng.com.
“You may quarrel with the headline, which is the prerogative of the Editor and the summation of views expressed in an interview. It is not fair to deny views, which you freely expressed.
“Anyone who cares to read the interview will not but agree that the headline is not frivolous.
“We stand by our story.”
