Daily Trust newspaper has apologised to the Nigerian government over the claim in its report that provisions relating to LGBTQ+ rights were included in the Samoa Agreement.
The National Media Complaints Commission (NMCC), also known as the media Ombudsman, has asked the newspaper to apologise to the Nigerian government over the false claim.
The controversial report was published on July 4, 2024, on the newspaper’s front page with the headline “LGBT: Nigeria Signs $150 Billion Samoa Deal.”
On July 8, 2024, the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation wrote to the ombudsman about it.
After weeks of investigation, including hearing from the parties involved, the NMCC ruled that the Daily Trust report was “inaccurate” and fell short of the high journalistic standards to which all newspapers should adhere.
“We find that the Daily Trust violated Article 2.3 of the Revised Code of Ethics, 2022 as it did not discharge its duty to report as accurately as possible. To the extent that the Daily Trust did not make any appreciable effort to establish the relevant facts in its reporting and seemed to substitute the opinions of its sources for the facts, we find that it breached Article 2.8 of the Revised Code of Ethics, 2022,” the NMCC said.
“Overall, the reporting offered by the Daily Trust fell short of the standards expected in the journalism profession as contained in the 2022 Revised Code of Ethics for Nigerian Journalists. We also find that its reporting on such a subject with significant sensitivity in Nigeria was below its acclaimed professional standard.”
In an editor’s note on Wednesday, the newspaper said: “We accept the verdict of the NMCC without any equivocation. We apologise to the Federal Government for any inconveniences the story might have caused to it. We also apologise to our readers and the public for getting the story wrong in the first place.”
The newspaper further said it has taken steps to improve its editorial mechanisms and enhance their effectiveness.
“Like newspapers all over the world, we sometimes make mistakes or get some facts wrong, which explains why even before the advent of the National Ombudsman, we have had internal ones, in the persons of late Hajia Bilkisu Yusuf (2007) and Mr. Dan Agbese (2015). We take this process of prompting and self-correction seriously,” it said.
