…as reporter of a counter publication denying indictment of Fasina stands with his report
From Martins Adekunle
A legal practissioner, Barr. Tiamiyu Sule Adegboyega, has slammed the Reporter of Daily Sun, Grabriel Dike, by analysing his report published on December 22, 2020, with the title: “ASUU, EKSU VC fault report on exoneration of Fasina’, describing the said report and one written before it, entitled: “War of Words: Ekiti varsity reveals Don collected double salary,, absconded”, published November 10, 2020, as libelliuos and targetted at damaging and defaming the person of Prof. Abayomi Fasina.
This was just as a freelance reporter of a counter publication on Opera news which was entitled : EKSU Registar exonerates Fasina over alleged indictment, says his office has no documents indicting him” , Mr. Kehinde Adewole, has said he stands by his report.
It will be recalled that the said Reporter had written that Prof. Fasina, who is a top contender for the Vice-chancellor position of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), was indicted by some purported report by a certain panel of enquiry, purportedly set up by the Management of EKSU. But while speaking with the freelance reporter of an online news platform, Registrar of the School, Mr. Akin Arogundade who responded on phone, had denied that such report of a panel indicting Prof. Fasina existed, saying he , as the custodian of records of the institution did not have such document.
The online platform had reported the denial by Arogundade, but in a latest report by same national daily on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, the national Daily’s Reporter, while affirming that there was yet to be any report from any panel indicting Fasina, adding that if such would happen, Fasina would be invited before such conclusion would be decided, still painted a situation that suggested that Prof. Fasina has been indicted by some papers.
While reacting to Daily Sun’s publication of Tuesday, Barr. Adegboyega who recommended strongly that the newspaper should be sued by Prof. Fasina, said: “The latest publication from the national daily is only to say that the intial publication that attempted to denigrate the person of Prof Abayomi Fasina is false, that it is not true at all. And whatever conclusion that it made, which is an effort to blackmail and to defame the person of Prof. Abayomi Fasina is to the effect that it was not properly done.
” The comments in the latest publication credited to the Vice-chancellor of the Ekiti State University (EKSU), Professor Edward Olanipekun is an admission, in the eye of Law, that whatever has been done before now is contrary to Law, is not proper. The attempt to say that they have not done anything is in itself unfair, because according to them, Professor Fasina has been tried and convicted , that is qoute and unqoute , the statement in itself is made in bad light and with bad motive. If they are now retracting what they have said about indictment now, it means that the first one was done with a bad motive.
The paper should definitely be sued. The paper will be liable for not projecting the fact before publishing. And as well the speakers of those statements, which constitute libel will equally have questions to answer in a competent court of juridiction because the entire content is libelliuos.
Journalists and their platforms are advised to rather engage in constructive and investigate journalism. For whatever reason, going to publish any damaging thing about a person that would result into litigation is not a good thing to the society. “
