defamatory and libelous story it published on September 25, 2015, against
Springfield Energy and its CEO, Mr. Kevin Okyere, where it sensationally
tried to link the duo to corruption in the Nigerian petroleum sector.The New Statesman, which gave wings to the defamatory report in Ghana and
Nigeria, in a retraction published on the cover page of the October 16
edition and subsequently on page 2, regretted that the previous report it
ran was inaccurate saying, “Apart from the fact that Springfield did
business with the NNPC in Nigeria, The News Statesman has no evidence that
Springfield’s dealings with NNPC were not legitimately secured…”
Springfield Energy is an oil and gas company with operations in Ghana and
Nigeria.
Mr. Okyere and his company had sued the newspaper and its publisher, GAB
Productions Limited, for GH¢30 million ($7.5m) for libel, at an Accra High
Court on September 30.
The duo also threatened to sue other newspapers for publishing
unsubstantiated reports linking them to corruption in Nigeria.
It is however unclear whether the plaintiffs would discontinue the suit.
The full text of The New Statesman’s retraction reads:
“RETRACTION: REPORT ON KEVIN OKYERE, SPRINGFIELD
The new statesman wishes to retract in full its report of Friday,
September 25, 2015.
“THE HANDSOME GHANAIAN MILLIONAIRE AND NIGERIA’S BEAUTIFUL $20BN
EX-PETROLEUM MINISTER”.
The new statesman, as its readers are fully aware, has been consistent in
highlighting for its mainly Ghanaian readers efforts by the new Buhari
government to tackle corruption in Nigeria. Much of such publications have
focused on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and its former
Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.
In the course of our investigations, much of which was based on reports
already circulating in the Nigerian media on her controversial handling of
the ministry, names were mentioned of people with alleged influence around
Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and in just two of the many numerous reports
(specifically The Premium Times and little known the capital) the name
Kevin Okyere, a Ghanaian businessman, came up.
Our checks further revealed that Kevin’s company, Springfield, which is a
player in the petroleum business here in Ghana, managed to secure
oil-lifting deals in Nigeria under the Jonathan government.
We must however, stress that none of the publications about Kevin Okyere
or his company, Springfield, made any categorical allegation linking him
to any corrupt dealings, either in Nigeria or Ghana. And our own
publication did not say that Kevin Okyere or Springfield took part in any
corrupt transaction in any of the two countries they are known to operate
in Ghana and Nigeria.
Indeed our report on Kevin Okyere and Springfield went on to say that the
successful young Ghanaian businessman became “an object of envy within oil
circles in Nigeria”, and added, “many others reduce the targeting of the
successful Ghanaian deal-maker as one of pure envy.”
Apart from the fact that Springfield did business with the NNPC in
Nigeria, the News Statesman has no evidence that Springfield’s dealings
with NNPC were not legitimately secured and made no such categorical claim
in our publication.
We have since published a rejoinder from Springfield in which they
completely denied doing anything illegitimate in either Nigeria or Ghana.
We are hereby rendering a full retraction and unreservedly regret any
inconvenience which our said publication might have caused Springfield and
its CEO, Kevin Okyere.”