By The Merit Newspaper Newsroom
The Merit Newspaper regrets the publication of an earlier report regarding Muhammad Babangida, the son of former Nigerian military president Ibrahim Babangida, which falsely claimed he had rejected his recent appointment as Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Agriculture (BOA).
The erroneous report, initially based on a social media post by renowned journalist and publisher Chief Dele Momodu on his verified X handle (formerly Twitter), was later discovered to be untrue. Mr. Muhammad Babangida has officially accepted the presidential appointment and has since expressed gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the confidence reposed in him.
Though Chief Momodu has since deleted the misleading post from his social media page, the damage was already in motion, as several reputable platforms, including The Merit Newspaper, picked up the information before it could be properly verified.
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We wish to unequivocally state that The Merit Newspaper upholds the ethics and principles of responsible journalism and does not condone the dissemination of false information. Once it came to our attention that the report was misleading and not grounded in verified facts, we promptly removed the content and initiated internal checks to prevent a recurrence.
It is disappointing that such a respected figure in Nigerian journalism as Chief Dele Momodu would circulate a claim of that magnitude without appropriate verification. The act is not only unfortunate but also represents a grave departure from the ethical standards expected of professionals in the field. In a democratic setting such as Nigeria, the media plays a crucial role in shaping public discourse and must therefore operate with the highest level of integrity and responsibility.
As a media platform, we sincerely apologize to our esteemed readers, to Mr. Muhammad Babangida, and to the general public for any confusion or concern the earlier publication may have caused. We remain committed to truthful, balanced, and accurate journalism and urge all media practitioners—no matter how established—to verify all claims before publication, especially those capable of influencing public perception or undermining national institutions.
We also retain documented evidence of the now-deleted post from Dele Momodu’s X account, which confirms the origin of the misinformation.
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At The Merit Newspaper, we believe that journalistic integrity must remain the cornerstone of all news dissemination, and we pledge to uphold this principle now and always.
