The reputation and
integrity of Punch newspapers is on trial over allegations of unethical
practices and financial impropriety levelled against Azubuike
Ishiekwene, its executive director, publications, by the immediate past
editor, Steve Ayorinde.

The allegations
against Mr. Ishiekwene, more known as Azu, the name with which he
writes his weekly column, is contained in a petition dated 1 March and
addressed to the Chairman of Punch Nigeria Limited, Ajibola Ogunsola,
the parent company that publishes the Punch titles.

Mr. Ayorinde had
alleged in the petition that has been widely circulated over the
Internet and Facebook, a popular social networking site, that Mr.
Ishiekwene forced him to resign his position as the editor.

Contacted over this
story, Mr. Ayorinde merely said, “I can’t grant you any interview. It
is a private correspondence to my boss. The matter is litigious. I
would advise you not to touch it.”

But the petition
has generated a lot of concern and apprehension among Nigerian
journalists and citizens alike, just as they awaited the newspaper
company’s reaction to the allegations.

Mr. Ishiekwene too
would not respond to phone calls and text messages for his reaction to
the memo by the former editor. However, in his back page column of
Tuesday, 9 March edition of The Punch, Mr. Ishiekwene wrote,

“My attention has
been drawn to the allegations against me by the former Editor of The
Punch, Mr. Steve Ayorinde. I am constrained to respond at this point
because it would be unbecoming of me to do so over a matter that is now
before the Board. Let justice, the inevitable justifier of the
innocent, take its course.”

The chairman, Mr.
Ogunsola, was not available for comments as calls to his phone went
unanswered, just as he did not respond to text messages.

It will rub off on the media industry

But a journalism
teacher at the Lagos State University, Tunde Akanni, expressed disgust
at the situation. Mr. Akanni added that the allegations contained in
the petition are capable of leaving an irreparable dent on the nation’s
media industry and therefore, should not be swept under the carpet.

“As a journalism teacher I find it extremely tragic,” Mr. Akanni said.

“It is going to rub off on the entire media industry. Particularly for Punch. It is terrible.”

Explaining that it
might be difficult for Mr. Ishiekwene to deny some of the allegations
that have been levelled against him, Mr. Akanni added that Mr.
Ayorinde, by this petition, had revealed that his hands are also not
clean.

“The allegations
are as indicting of the accuser as they are of Azu. How come he knew
all these and didn’t say anything until he finds himself at the
receiving end?”

He added that the allegations are particularly damaging to Mr. Ishiekwene’s reputation.

“The international profile he has managed to garner is crashing.”

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Guild of Editors has adopted a wait-and-see approach to the allegation.

“As far as the
Guild of Editors is concerned, it is an allegation and remains an
allegation until they are investigated”, said Gbenga Adefaye, the
President of Nigerian Guild of Editors.

However, he
promised that the Guild is investigating a section of the petition that
claimed that journalists were forming clubs to make money.

The late Olu Aboderin, a chartered accountant, started The Punch in 1971.

Read a copy of the petition here