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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Blueprint Refunds N9m To NPAN

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The Board of Directors, Blueprint Newspaper has refunded the N9million compensation paid to newspaper owners whose copies were seized by security agents under the immediate past administration.Executive Director, Operations, Salisu Umar, disclosed this in a statementĀ  yesterday, said a GTBĀ  bank draft of N9million, had been paid to the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN).
The statement reads: ā€œThe infraction on the rights of some newspapers by some agents of the Federal Government was widely reported in 2014. Specifically, the said agents seized numerous copies of the affected newspapers, including Blueprint.Ā  AndĀ  in line with the dictates of the rule of law, the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and the affected members chose to head to court for redress.

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ā€œIn its wisdom however, the Federal Government led by the then President Goodluck Jonathan, after a peace parleyĀ  with the NPAN leadership, agreedĀ  to an out-of-court settlement, consequent upon which the affectedĀ  media organisations , including BlueprintĀ  Newspaper, gotĀ  N9miilion each. This decision, to any reasonable mind is very much in order as it simply demonstrated that the Federal Government rightfully admitted its wrongdoing.

ā€œHowever, in view of the unfolding development surrounding the arms deal investigation ,Ā  which supposedly revealed that the restitution wasĀ  paid from fund set asideĀ  for arms deal, the Board of Directors, has refunded same (N9million) via a GTB bankĀ  draft No 04378726, drawn in NPANā€™s name, dated February 1, 2016, and forwarded to NPANĀ  Secretariat. In the least, this will certainly put to rest some misgivings that have been on over the compensation paid to media owners
ā€œMay we also add here that more than any other thing,Ā  the board considers this a great sacrifice if that would only uphold the integrity of the media as a member of the Fourth Estate of the Realm and the true watchdog of the society.
ā€œFinally, we shall continue to abide by NPANā€™s decision on this and any other matter bordering on its membersā€™ interest. ā€œ

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