Wole
Soyinka Centre postpones honour for Osinbajo over Sowore
The Wole Soyinka Centre
for Investigative Journalism has postponed the presentation of the award to
Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo.
According to a statement signed
by Motunrayo Alaka, Chief Executive Officer of the Centre, the decision was
reached following the rearrest of Omoleye Sowore, Publisher of SaharaReporters,
on Friday, by operatives of the Department of State Services.
Alaka said, “The postponement was decided on, to align with
protests against the repression of freedom of speech in recent times especially
the incident between the Department of State Security (DSS) and Omoleye Sowore,
Publisher of Sahara Reporters, on Friday 6 December. The Vice President himself
shares this awareness and the inappropriateness of the award at this point.”
The WSCIJ holds the award
presentation event on December 9, the World Anti-Corruption Day and eve of the
World Human Rights Day to highlight the importance of investigative reporting
as a tool for accountability, good governance and social justice in a
democracy.
WSCIJ had earlier announced that
it would present an ‘Integrity speciality of the anti-corruption defender
award’ to the vice-president for his “invaluable work of overhauling the
Lagos State Judiciary, facilitating far-reaching reforms in the administration
of justice in the state, his work of promoting integrity in the civil society
and business in Nigeria and his consistency as a strong voice for promoting
integrity in the country.”
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