Anambra Govt reacts to report of plan to shut state-owned newspaper

The Anambra State Government has dismissed as unfounded a report that it had concluded plans to sell the Anambra Newspapers and Printing Company (ANPC), publishers of the state-owned National Light Newspapers.

The Commissioner for Information in the state, Paul Nwosu, disclosed this in a statement issued in Awka on Monday.

Mr Nwosu was reacting to a publication alleging that the Governor Charles Soludo-led government had concluded plans and even prepared disengagement letters for at least 100 staff members of the media organisation without their knowledge.

But Mr Nwosu dismissed the information as untrue, adding that the matter was still being discussed.

He said though the state Executive Council (EXCO) discussed the ANPC issue, no conclusion had been reached.

“The issue of National Light is still being intensively considered by Exco and as soon as there is a firm decision, the news will be formally made public, but not through a grapevine or a mole,” he said.

He said the management board of ANPC was not dissolved alongside other boards because the prerogative of doing so rested with the governor.

Mr Nwosu stated that Governor Soludo was not at war with journalists and had sent representatives to events organised by journalists in the state.

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He said, “If the governor hates journalists, members of the NUJ would not have been invited as panellists that interview him during his quarterly Anambra Broadcasting Service phone-in programme, where he interacts with Anambra people.”

(NAN)