Segun Olatunji

Segun Olatunji, the Editor of FirstNews has resigned from his position after the publication tendered an apology to Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff of President Bola Tinubu.

Olatunji had spent 14 days in the custody of Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) Abuja for a report on Gbajabiamila.

The report titled: “How Gbajabiamila attempted to corner $30bn, 66 houses traced to Sabiu” was written by Olatunji.

Gbajabiamila had in a statement on Tuesday threatened to drag Olatunji and FirstNews to court over the article and another interview granted by the Editor to the Foundation of Investigative Journalism (FIJ).

The First News Management, in a statement on Wednesday, May 8, said it had discovered the said story contained “falsehoods and fabricated stories handed out to us as facts by a misleading source which was highly negligent on our part and for which we deeply tender an unreserved apology to the Chief of Staff to the President.”

In his resignation letter after the apology, Olatunji said he resigned for his safety and that of the family.

Hinting that he was unhappy about the apology, he expressed hope that the truth would come out soonest on what transpired over the report.

The letter read: ”In view of the latest development regarding the Gbajabiamila story and the stance of the company’s Management, I hereby tender my resignation as the General Editor of First News.

”I thank the company’s management for giving me the opportunity to contribute my quota to its operations in the past four years.”