New York Times, Washington Post, Others Slam Malami’s Pro-Buhari Propaganda

According to US government papers acquired by Peoples Gazette, at least five media

organizations in the United States have rejected an attempt to plant opinion articles in order to smear President Muhammadu Buhari’s image.

The failed opinion, sponsored by Attorney General Abubakar Malami, was intended to dismiss scathing allegations of Mr Buhari’s human rights record and alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

Mr. Malami penned the opinion in 2018 through Mount Olives LLC, a public relations agency based in the United States.

The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, The Hill, and The Washington Times, on the other hand, all rejected the position, according to papers submitted by the US government.

According to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the Department of Justice said.

The cost of each opinion was almost $8,000 each. However, it was unclear whether

Mr Malami received a return from the PR agency after the pieces failed to pass the tough editorial processes of the media organizations.

Mr Malami’s attempt to clean up President Buhari’s image came amid a barrage of charges of grave human rights violations leveled against him.

Mr Buhari has continued to show zero tolerance for freedom of speech and expression, harassing and arresting opponents and activists who have been vocal in their criticism of his administration, and stifling marches and demonstrations against insecurity and terrible governance.

Mr Buhari has also not spared the media, slapping fines and sanctions on broadcast stations on a regular basis.

As a result, journalists have continued to work in terror during Mr Buhari’s six-year tenure, in an environment that has become increasingly dangerous and toxic for journalists.

In what appeared to be a coordinated effort by the Nigerian government orchestrated by mobile telecommunication carriers including MTN, Glo, and 9mobile, access to the website of the online publication Peoples Gazette was blatantly and illegally banned in January.

The incident followed an article published in The Gazette in October 2020 that highlighted Bolaji Gambari as the new leader of a growing cabal of administration aides inside the Presidential Villa.

Farouk Gumel, another Aso Rock policy adviser and a powerful member of the cabal that ruled under Abba Kyari, was also ousted, according to the publication.

Mr Malami did not respond to a request for comment on why his piece was rejected by the American media.

The records were discovered by the Gazette amid a barrage of international criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime in the aftermath of Nigeria’s Twitter ban.

Mr Buhari banned Twitter in Nigeria on June 4, just a day after the social media giant erased his tweet that appeared to threaten genocide against Nigeria’s Igbos.

The microblog has been suspended indefinitely, according to Information Minister Lai Mohammed, since it has been used to distribute misleading information and “activities that are capable of damaging Nigeria’s corporate existence.”

Further pressuring the House of Representatives, Mr Buhari’s administration Wednesday requested that the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) be empowered to control the activities of internet broadcasting businesses and other online media.

According to a Premium Times story, Mr Mohammed asked MPs to add the control of all online and internet broadcasting firms in section two (C) of the bill during a public hearing on a plan to alter the National Broadcasting Commission Act.

If the House accepts the information minister’s recommendation, internet broadcasting sites such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and others will need to obtain NBC approval to operate in Nigeria.

Nigerian officials have a long history of asking Western newspapers to publish thoughts in order to clean up their image.

After the abduction of over 250 schoolgirls by Boko Haram extremists in 2014, former President Goodluck Jonathan hired Levick, a Washington-based public relations and lobbying firm, to help him boost his public popularity rating.

In a similar spirit, Mr Buhari’s APC paid for the services of AKPD Message and Media in 2014 in order to strengthen its chances in the 2015 national elections. In 2019, the party rehired AKPD Message and Media, as well as a South African public relations firm.

In addition, ahead of the 2019 presidential election, former vice president Atiku Abubakar hired renowned US lobbyist Brian Ballard U.S.

Peoples Gazette