Lalong: I was not duped N5b in Dubai

Governor Lalong

Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong has dismissed a report by an online media, Meganews, alleging that he was duped of N5 billion in Dubai.

The governor described the report as laughable, malicious, mischievous and a figment of the writer’s imagination, which he said can only qualify as the worst kind of armchair journalism, lacking in credibility, objectivity, balance and fairness.

Lalong, who reacted through his media aide, Mark Longyen, asked the public to ignore the story for lack of facts.

“Such stories are mere handiwork of opposition political elements desperate to paint him black.

“Ordinarily, such stories should be ignored because responding to it amounts to giving it credibility. This response however became necessary so as to expose the falsehood in it.

Longyen warned that running an obscure online media outfit like Meganews was not an outright license for the said medium and opposition to conspire against the reputation of a serving governor. Such defamatory and libellous stories carry legal consequences, which the culprits may soon face, he added.

“The governor challenges the authors to produce evidence, if any, from the records of their investigation and show proof as to when and where the N5 billion Dubai property transaction took place, which bank was used, as well as all the parties involved.

“Failure to do so will compel government to contact relevant security agencies to investigate the source of the story,” Longyen said.

He urged the public to beware and not fall victim of such malicious reports emanating from unregulated online media outfits.