Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has said his administration is mulling over the possibility of dragging the media outfit, Daily Trust to court. According to Governor Makinde, the media outfit has been less than professional in their reportage of Oyo State affairs.
Speaking at a press briefing, Tuesday, held at the State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, the governor warned the media to desist from spreading fake news. He noted that some outfits are deliberately spreading disinformation to stoke ethnic tensions in the state. He said, “Daily Trust, for instance, I’m still evaluating if we should charge them to court.”
However, the Oyo State Head of Government maintained that he would not be distracted by the false news being peddled by a section of the media. He said he was happy that his administration was enjoying street credibility.
In his words, “In my experience as a public servant, which basically has been for 18 months, I felt people would try to distract you, but you need to stay focused…So, I chose to not stay in the gutter with these folks and leave them to whatever it is they are doing. I am glad that we do have street credibility.”
Governor Makinde further challenged his detractors to a street credibility walk. “If they think we don’t [have street credibility], I will volunteer to walk on the streets of Oje with any of them, and we will see who has the credibility. The people are appreciative of what we are doing, and they are no fools. They know precisely what is going on.”
The governor concluded his statement by saying that the decision to sue Daily Trust or not would affect the running of government. “If we decide to take them to court, we are not going to take it to heart. It will just be something in the course of whatever it is we are doing.”