Paul Adom-Otchere 'not my tight buddy' - Nii Arday Clegg

The claim by Paul Adom-Otchere, host of Good Evening Ghana on Metro TV, that the former host of Morning Starr on Starr FM, Robert Nii Arday Clegg, once wrote an Interim Assessment (IA) for him during their university days still haunts Paul.

Mr Adom-Otchere during an interview on Starr FM’s ‘Starr Chat’, made this claim which sort to question the integrity of both Adom-Otchere and Clegg, something the latter, did not take lightly and responded to live on radio the morning after the said show. Paul Adom-Otchere who made that claim admitted later that he lied during the interview.

Three years after the said incident happened on Starr FM, Clegg, a former Morning Starr host on Starr 103.5FM has indicated that he would have done the same live on-air impromptu rebuttal if such claims were made of him today.

Taking his turn on Bola Ray’s Starr Chat, Wednesday, January 29, 2019, Lawyer Nii Arday Clegg stated that he would have responded to Paul Adom-Otchere the way he did the morning after the latter's interview.

“I would have done the exact same thing today. I am saying I would not have edited a micro-second of my presentation on that morning, that’s exactly what I would have done,” he said when he was asked whether he would have changed anything.

He explained that what he did on Morning Starr was a form of rejoinder in journalism.

“I wasn’t going to get the chance to come on Starr Chat to come and rejoin on that matter. What I had was Morning Starr, which I was hosting on the same network,” he said.

Nii Arday Clegg affirmed that he never regretted rebutting Paul’s lies on his radio show at all.

He noted that even at the law school, he would not give his friends a chance to either ask him a question during exams because during discussions before any exam he would tell his friends to ask him any question but not during examinations.

“I guard my integrity jealously,” he stressed.

The corporate lawyer and author further indicated that, he has never been a tight buddy with the host of Good Evening Ghana on Metro TV, Paul Adom-Otchere, as people seem to suggest.

According to him, Paul is very friendly and can hold a good conversation but he (Nii Arday Clegg) can not describe his Political Science coursemate as a buddy with whom he has a very good relationship.

“I don’t want to pretend that Mr Adom-Otchere and I were some really good friends in the past…we never had that relationship…I have never had that relationship with Mr Paul Ado-Otchere,” he emphasized.

Lawyer Robert Nii Arday Clegg, giving the basis of the level of friendship with Paul Adom-Otchere, said, “I didn’t meet Mr Paul Adom-Otchere at Radio Gold, I met him at the University of Ghana. Mr Paul Adom-Otchere was in Commonwealth Hall and I was in Legon Hall. I knew him. I never went to Mr Paul Adom-Otchere’s room in Commonwealth Hall, he never came to mine in Legon Hall. We met at lectures and the only course we had in common was Political Science. While I knew him and we speak to each other, I have never been to Mr Paul Adom-Otchere’s house…he has never come to my house, he doesn’t know where I live.”



Background

Paul Adom-Otchere was offered the opportunity by Bola Ray, through a mystery question, to choose who he considered the best morning show host between Bernard Avle (Citi FM), Kojo Yankson (Joy FM) and Robert Nii Arday Clegg (Starr FM).

In limiting the choices to three he wanted to let listeners know that the competition for morning radio in the English speaking market was among only three stations.

Paul could not bring himself to say who he felt was the best among the three. He mentioned the fact that he helped set Bernard’s morning show career up at Citi FM and so it was difficult for him. Let me say that Bernard started hosting morning shows on Radio Univers on Campus Express with the likes of Nana Tawiah Okyere, Shamima Muslim and co, but that’s beside the point. Paul said because of this he could not choose Bernard.

Then on Clegg he said they had been friends for long and so it would be unfair to the others for him to mention him as the best.

In his effort to emphasise the extent of their friendship, however, he claimed to have been helped by Clegg when he wasn’t available to write an Interim Assessment (IA) and the former had written it for him when they were both studying Political Science as undergrads at the University of Ghana.