The Member of Parliament for Assin South and Ranking Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence and Interior, Rev. John Ntim Fodjour, has raised serious concerns over what he describes as fabricated text messages read on Joy FM’s flagship news analysis programme, Newsfile.
Rev. Fodjour has called on the programme’s host, Sampson Lardi Ayenini, to provide clarity on the source of the messages, which he claims sought to discredit his recent exposé concerning national security matters.
According to him, the messages — which dismissed his revelations as baseless — did not reflect genuine public opinion but were rather concocted with the sole aim of undermining his credibility and shielding the current government from scrutiny.
He further alleged that his suspicions were reinforced when the show’s producer reportedly denied having forwarded any such messages to the host.
Rev. Fodjour made these assertions in a post on his Facebook page, following his appearance on Newsfile last Saturday.
Clarifying a separate controversy that emerged after the programme, the lawmaker rejected claims that he had staged a walkout from the show.
“Sampson Lardi Ayenini only booked me for a specific segment on the show. After the segment ended and the programme went on a break, I left. It was later that I heard the host had mischievously announced that I had walked out,” he explained.
Rev. Fodjour has recently been at the centre of a political storm following his disclosure of the presence of two foreign aircraft — AirMed Flight N823AM and the Cavok Antonov An-12B — operating within Ghana’s airspace under unclear circumstances.
His allegations have triggered widespread debate and prompted President John Dramani Mahama to direct the national security apparatus to collaborate with the MP to thoroughly investigate the matter.
In the aftermath of his exposé, leading figures of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), including Felix Kwakye Ofosu and Sammy Gyamfi, launched blistering attacks on Rev. Fodjour, accusing him of engaging in a politically-motivated scheme to smear the government’s image.
Despite the backlash, the Assin South MP remains resolute, insisting that the controversial text messages read on Newsfile were part of a calculated effort — possibly aligned with opposition propaganda — to damage his reputation on a national platform.