THE Coalition for Whistleblowers Protection and Press Freedom condemns the attack and harassment of one of its members, Order Paper, by Hon. Tony Nwulu representing Oshodi/ Isolo Federal constituencies of Lagos state.
The coalition refers to the threats to the staff of OrderPaper and its Publisher, Mr Oke Epia, and considers the Honorable’s actions as a breach of the constitutional rights that allow journalists to do their lawful work.
The Orderpaper crossed paths with Hon. Tony Nwulu after publishing reports on constituency projects nominated in Honorable Nwulu’s name which he was unable to properly account for.
Mr Nwulu was on record threatening Mr Epia and his organisation to “take you down”, a chilling utterance that is a direct violation of the fundamental rights of Journalists to hold government officials accountable.
Journalists are under obligation, by the powers of Section 22 and section 39 of the Nigerian constitution, to hold people in government accountable to their oath of office and their pledge to their electorate.
The Coalition advises Honorable Nwulu to desist from further threats otherwise it would be forced to pursue legal action against him.
Nwulu has denied the allegation.
The coalition comprises of Premium Times, Sahara Reporters, OrderPaper, The Cable, Daily Trust Newspaper, International Centre for Investigative Reporting, Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism, African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), Civic Media Lab, and Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC).
Others are the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), International Press Centre (IPC), Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Nigeria Union of Journalist (NUJ), Paradigm Initiative, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and HEDA Resources Centre.