The Boss newspaper on March 31st reported that Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has joined the race for Presidency come 2019, but the story proves to be untrue, leaving correspondents baffled and wondering if the Dele Momodu owned Media has joined the bandwagon of Fake news peddlers.
In a story titled: “WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Joins Presidential Race”, The Boss reported that it can exclusively reveal “that Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has joined the 2019 Presidential race.”
“There is no doubt that he would be a formidable force that should not be ignored because only few politicians in Nigeria today have the pedigree, the experience, the clout and the connection of Senator Saraki.
“Having risen to the enviable position of the number three citizen, the only place to go for the two-term Senator and former two-term governor is up! Indeed, Saraki is not new to the dynamics of power politics; he is the scion of a political dynasty that is well-known across the nation.”
The story later went on with the biography of Saraki, his educational background and his sojourn into the Nigeria Political industry.
The story was later denounced by the Special Adviser to the Senate President on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, who said the report is nothing but false.
“If it is true that he is contesting, you would have seen the report in major dailies since last week Saturday when the news broke out on social media. But as you can see, there is nothing like that”.
While The Boss is yet to refute or debunk its publication, many wonder where and how it got the news of the Senate President contesting, with some suggesting that the newspaper might have joined the list of fake news media, spread across the Country with series of unconfirmed reports.
Mr. Dele Momodu is known to call out big names after visiting them. In 2015 he was accused of publishing a transcript of a personal visit with former Minister of Petroleum Diezani Madueke and displaying frail pictures of her without permission to do so. In all fairness to Mr. Momodu, the tone of the conversation did sound like it was an interview.
A look at TheBoss Newspaper is a screaming appeal to its publisher to do better. The Newspaper seems to mostly focus on what they learn from “a source”, sources that are never mentioned. Often times the “Super Exclusive” piece are expected rumours. An example is seen in a story about former Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomole, who is assumed by the public to be the next National Chairman of the PDP. The Newspaper publishes this beer parlour gossip with the headline “Super Exclusive: Adams Oshiomhole plots to replace Odigie-Oyegun as APC Chairman” and just went on and on repeating what the public already assumes and ascribing it to “Sources”.
