12th October, 2014
The acting governor Garba Umar said on Sunday that he never declared ailing Governor Danbaba Suntai missing.
Umar offered the clarification in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Kefas Sule, and issued to journalists in Jalingo.
The statement explained that Umar simply told journalists that he was yet to set his eyes on Suntai since he returned from the medical trip abroad.
“The attention of the acting governor has been drawn to the screaming news headlines purporting that he has declared Suntai missing.
“Umar hereby places on record that at no time did he declare his boss missing, he simply said he was yet to see him since he returned from medical trip to London,” the statement read in part.
It noted that all what Umar said at a parley with journalists was appropriately captured by almost all the media correspondents except one national daily.
“It is disheartening to later see a barrage of misleading headlines in the media said to have been egged on by a subjective interpretation by one of the national dailies,” the statement added.
It quoted Umar as urging media practitioners to uphold the ethics of the profession which emphasised accuracy, objectivity, fairness and balance at all time.