Folio is not Babangida's front, Anosike assures
By Lekan Okusan, Lagos
THE Managing Director of Folio Communications, Mr. Fidelis Anosike, has debunked claims that former military President, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, had used the company as a front to buy over the defunct Daily Times of Nigeria (DTN).
Anosike said: "Folio Communications does not front and is no surrogate of any person or group within or outside Nigeria, it is unfortunate that unsubstantiated and unfounded rumours are published without recourse to cross checking facts against fiction."
Speaking recently with journalists at the DTN temporary office in Lagos, Anosike said the management had set a target of 500,000 copies daily for the paper, to reclaim its previous position in the newspaper industry.
Anosike disclosed that the firm had ordered new and digitalised machinery, which would soon be commissioned, while the existing ones de-commissioned.
He added that equipment audit at DTN revealed that available facilities and machinery are "grossly inadequate and outdated for the magnitude of the re-entry for the newspaper and affiliate publications."
He said the new DTN would "brood no political sympathies or affiliations," adding that its interest would be focused on serving Nigerians by publishing "truthfully and dispassionately, raising awareness, aspirations, good governance and economic prosperity."
Anosike promised openness and accessibility on all enquiries on the company, adding that all information relating to the organisation would be sourced from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) and the banks through which the bidding payments were made.
On Dr. Chidi Amuta who was reported to be Babangida's "crony on the Folio Board," Anosike stated that he was brought on board among others during the bid processes as a resource person and technocrat.
He added that Amuta, whose function was limited to advisory, is a practising journalist and "could offer managerial advice on the deficiencies bedevilling the oldest newspaper organisation in the country."
The BPE will be handing over DTN Group officially to Folio Communications before the end of August.
