By Ayobami Ife, Abeokuta
The National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party (LP), Abayomi Arabambi, has slammed those calling for the sack of Arise TV presenter, Rufai Oseni, over hot exchange between him and the Nigerian Works Minister, Dave Umahi during a live television programme on Tuesday.
Arabambi said that Rufai Oseni should not be gagged or made to lose his job for using uncomfortable questions to demand “accountability and transparency” from the government and any of its agents concerning the controversial 750 km Coastal Highway.
The politician and public affairs analyst was reacting to the heated exchange that ensued between Oseni and his guest, Umahi, when the TV anchor requested the minister to analyse the cost of the project, kilometre by kilometre.
Umahi didn’t take the request lightly, saying Oseni was asking childish or elementary questions.
The Minister had said, “These are elementary questions. And it makes no sense (sic). A process is ongoing, payment has been made, and you are saying, ‘how has this money been utilised?. The money is meant for the project, and it will be paid according to the work done.
“When a certificate is generated, and it is approved through a process in the Ministry of Works, it will then be given to the funders, who will, in turn, check if the works were done. How can you be asking for cost of kilometre? The prices are different. The next kilometre is different from the next kilometre.
“Keep quiet and stop saying what you don’t know. I’m a professor in this field. You don’t understand anything. I understand engineering very well. You have no knowledge of what you ask. You have no knowledge of what you’re asking.”
But unyielding Oseni, blurted out: “Minister, it’s alright, keep dignifying yourself, and let the world know who you truly are.”
However, defending the Oseni’s question to Umahi which some people considered as “heckling,” “disrespectful” and “insolent” with many demanding that Oseni should be relieved of his job and the station also sanctioned, Arabambi condemned the calls for the journalist’s sack.
Speaking with The Daily Crucible on Friday, he recalled that for over a decade running, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been the subject of persistent vile criticisms, insults, trolls and dragging on many media platforms by Nigerians, saying despite those apparent torrents of vilifications, the President has continued to maintain his calm without calling for the head or sack of any of his ardent critics.
He also cautioned the National Broadcasting Commission(NBC) against allowing itself to be used by any political party or government to abridge press freeform through imposition of sanction on a broadcast station.
Arabambi who threatened to file a lawsuit against the NBC if it dared to sanction the Arise TV over the Rufai – Umahi hot exchange, reminded the organisation that it was being funded with tax payers money, hence the need to remain faithful to Nigerians and not any political party or government in power.
The LP chieftain who is an unapologetic advocate of press freedom, said it is the responsibility of the media and practitioners to hold government and its agents accountable to the people at all time, stressing that those that think otherwise only want to birth a dictatorial and authoritarian nation where corruption, oppression, suppression and poor governance thrive.
He said the Arise TV presenter did no wrong by requesting kilometre by kilometre cost of the Coaster Highway from the Works Minister, explaining that it was a simple request which should not be misconstrued as a display of arrogance, rudeness or being disrespectful to Umahi.
