The North East Star has condemned what it described as a malicious and fabricated report falsely alleging that Rt. Hon. Mukhtar Aliyu Betara, Chairman of the House Committee on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), distributed $5,000 in cash gifts to lawmakers.
In a statement released Monday evening in Maiduguri, Borno State, the group’s Executive Director, Mallam Ibrahim Goni, dismissed the claims as baseless and a calculated attempt to tarnish Betara’s reputation.
“Let it be clear: At no point did Hon. Betara tell any journalist that lawmakers received $5,000 for Sallah. This is a complete fabrication designed to mislead the public and stir unnecessary controversy,” Goni stated.
The group accused certain individuals of deliberately spreading falsehoods in an effort to create discord between Betara and Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.
“We are aware of the agenda here—there are forces unhappy with Betara’s positive working relationship with the Speaker and his colleagues. They are now resorting to cheap blackmail, but Nigerians are not fools; they can see through this poorly scripted lie,” Goni added.
He further described the report as “unprofessional journalism at its worst” and called for an immediate retraction from those responsible for spreading the false information.
“We challenge anyone peddling this fake story to produce verifiable evidence. If not, they should retract it immediately and tender an apology. Hon. Betara is a respected lawmaker with a track record of integrity. No amount of lies will change that.”
The North East Star also called on media houses to be more responsible and verify information before publishing baseless accusations.
“Journalism is about facts, not fiction. Spreading outright lies to serve political interests is disgraceful and should have no place in the media,” Goni admonished.
The group warned that failure to withdraw the false report would attract serious consequences, including legal action.