Journalist loses job on making a post of Buhari on facebook

Umar Ridwan-Hakim Baba-Ahmed

Kaduna based broadcast medium, DITV-Alheri Radio, owned by a former President Muhammadu Buhari’s ally, Hakim Baba-Ahmed, has sacked its employee for posting pro-Buhari comments on social media.

DAILY NIGERIAN reports that Mr Baba-Ahmed was co-agent to President Muhammadu Buhari during the 2015 elections before defecting from the All Progressives Congress, APC to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

He is now the Chief of Staff to the Senate President Bukola Saraki, another arch-rival of Mr Buhari.

Our correspondent gathered that Umar Ridwan, who was the presenter of Youth and ‘Gari ya waye’ programs, was sacked for a post he made on his Facebook page on the achievements of APC government under Mr Buhari.

In the letter dated October 15 and obtained by DAILY NIGERIAN, the organisation terminated Mr Ridwan’s appointment without stating clearly the offence(s) the employee had committed before the sack.

When contacted, Mr Ridwan pointed out that his sacking might not be unconnected with a post he made on his personal Facebook page on Mr Buhari’s achievements, which allegedly angered the owner of the station.

According to him, the station had earlier given him a two-week suspension for posting “political matters” on his personal social media pages.

“After some consultations with industrial law experts, I discovered that the station has no right whatsoever to interfere with my personal activities, as long as it does not affect my duty as a presenter.

“So, on my resumption from the suspension, I shared a tweet on the defunct Nigerian Airways pensioners’ fund release, posted by the Minister of Finance Zainab Ahmed. The management apparently got angry and decided to fire me.

“After a few days, I was invited to pick a letter, stating that my services were not needed. I was also given a one-month salary, with no allowances,” Mr Ridwan narrated.

However, when DAILY NIGERIAN contacted the management of the station, the Head of News and Current affairs, Shuaibu Gimi, who spoke on behalf of the Head Administration and Finance, Rahmatu Jafar, said DITV-Alheri Radio as a private company, reserves the right to sack any employee they no longer require his/her services.

“We have fulfilled our contract with the law states. We have paid him his entitlements, including payment of one-month salary arrears,” Mr Gimi said.

DAILY NIGERIAN can recall that the broadcast station had been notorious for owing staff salaries for months.

Recently, the staff members of the organisation had to embark on a one-week strike to drive home their demands of off-setting their outstanding salary arrears.

It, however, took the intervention of the Nigerian Union of Journalist, NUJ, before the strike was called off.

 Daily Nigerian