Nigeria: We Received U.S.$40,000 for Jonathan's CNN Interview - U.S. Firm

A United States-based communication firm, Fleishman-Hillard Inc, has admitted that it arranged a Cable News Network (CNN) interview for President Goodluck Jonathan for a fee, claiming, however, that it only received $40,000 and not the $60,000 as initially agreed, an online medium, the Premium Times, reports.

According to the online outfit, the US firm made this revelation in an email reply to its enquiries, adding that parts of planned "communication services", including media interviews for the president in 2010, were later suspended, with equivalent $20,000 reduction in its fees.

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According to the Premium Times, the development implies that for arranging one interview, the firm was paid $40,000. The online medium also claimed that the US firm did not state which media interview went through, but said the service was in support of Jonathan 's trip to New York for the 2010 United Nations General Assembly.

"Due to urgent ad-hoc meetings held for the African nations at the 2010 UN General Assembly, the original services proposed were not able to be fully executed," a Nigerian firm, Quadrant Company, representing Fleishman-Hillard, said in an e-mailed response to Premium Times.

The company said "planned media interviews and other services" for the president were cancelled with only one appointment rescheduled for a later date. As a result, Fleishman-Hillard fees were more than $20,000 less than those originally proposed," the statement added.

But Premium Times reports that the US firm's claim is inaccurate on the grounds of the documents in its possession. In one of the documents, Fleishman-Hillard informed its contact in the Nigerian presidency that although it was unable to get an interview for Jonathan in the United States, it succeeded in getting the CNN to interview the president in Nigeria.

The reaction followed an earlier report by the online medium on how the president paid thousands of dollars to agents for arranging interviews with foreign media outlet, a choice seen as wasteful and unnecessary.

Documents available to online outfit indicate that Fleishman-Hillard Inc anchored the deal with the Nigerian presidency through Enyi Odigbo, chairman of Lagos-based advertising and public relations company, Caesar's Group.