NAN Suspends Three Staff Over False Varsity Report
By Victor Ernest with agency report
The management of the News Agency of Nigeria has announced the suspension of three of its staff members for circulating a story which alleged that some universities had increased their fees.
The story published on June 26, titled, ’38 Nigerian Universities increase tuition fees – ASUU’, was credited to Dr Deji Omole, the Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ibadan Chapter.
According to NAN, checks have been carried out on the story and it was discovered that standard editorial procedures were not followed to verify its authenticity.
The alleged press statement was found to have been mailed to a staff of the agency who passed it on for publication. The statement was utterly false.
Three senior editorial staff involved in the processing of the story have been suspended without pay by management, to serve as a warning that the agency will not tolerate breaches of its editorial integrity.
”This is to assure our numerous clients that NAN will continue to maintain its policy of credibility, fairness, justice and not compromise its professional ethics,” management said on Sunday.
