The last may not have been heard over the controversial report that the minister of the Federal Capital Territory[FCT], Senator Bala Mohammed was purportedly deported to Nigeria from Saudi Arabia where he went to perform the Hajj.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja on the controversial issue, the Chief of Staff to the FCT minister, Alhaji Musa Umar Yashi said that the minister shelved his planned trip to Saudi Arabia in the overriding interest of the nation which was faced with an impending strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress.

He said the two reports were politically motivated and intended to tarnish the hard-earned image of the FCT Minister as a de-sectionalised and de-tribalised law-abiding citizen of Nigeria. Yashi, flanked by top management staff of the FCT Administration, told newsmen that the libellous reports were to say the least untrue and embarrassing.

He stated: For the avoidance of doubt, the Distinguished Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Muhammed never travelled outside Nigeria within the period the two newspapers reported. While the Hon. Minister had intended to travel to perform this year's Holy Pilgrimage to Saudi-Arabia, he later shelved the plan because of overriding national interest due to the impending workers strike about the same period.

The FCT Minister felt that it will be uncomfortable for him to travel when the nation was facing such a labour crisis, so he stayed back for his well acknowledged patriotism and love for his country. It was therefore very embarrassing to read the reports by the Daily Summit and the Peoples Daily Newspapers claiming that the Hon. Minister was deported whereas he never made the trip.

We view this report as yet another calculated attempt to tarnish the hard-earned reputation of the FCT Minister for selfish political motives. But be that as it may, we want to make it very clear that no amount of campaign of calumny, falsehood and distortion can deter the FCT Minister from doing the right thing particularly in his present capacity as the FCT Minister and core member of the PDP, he added.

The Chief of Staff stated that the FCT Minister as a de-sectionalised and de-tribalised Nigerian has no regret in taking his political stand because he believes that it is in the best of the country. He added that the Minister will not be distracted from doing the right thing adding that the FCT Administration still regards the media as its partners in progress. He called on all well-meaning journalists not to allow themselves to be used as tools by selfish and desperate politicians.

Yashi also disclosed that necessary legal action and other lawful steps will be taken against the erring newspapers to serve as a deterrent to others who may desire to engage in such unwholesome practices in future. In the meantime, he called on the two newspapers to immediately retract the false reports and accord the retraction the same prominence given those published today by them.

Others present at the press conference included the Special Assistant Media to the FCT Minister, Mr. Nosike Ogbuenyi, the Senior Special Assistant to the Minister of Finance and Economic Matters, Alhaji Habu Sule, the Special Adviser on Security to the Minister, Col. John Yahaya Madaki (retired), the Senior Special Assistant in the Hon. Minister's Office, Dr. Musa Ahmed Musa, the Special Assistant to the Minister on Legal Matters, Barrister Bimbola Salu-Hundeyin and the Special Assistant to the Minister on Project, Senator John Danboyi.