Governor handpicks three journalists to cover Government House

The Governor of Kebbi State Nasir Idris has handpicked three journalists from the correspondents’ chapel of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to cover his activities at Government House, Birnin Kebbi, the state capital.

Penpushing reports that the development was made known on Tuesday through the Special Adviser to Governor on Media and Publicity, Yahaya Sarki after meeting with some stakeholder, adding that the Governor had directed that he did not want to see more than three members of the correspondents’ chapel covering his activities.

The meeting was held in Birnin Kebbi between Acting Permanent Secretary, Government House, Alhaji Ibrahim Saraki; Acting Permanent Secretary, Protocol, Sagir Mahe, and Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Yahaya Sarki, Special Adviser to the Governor on New Media, Aliyu Bandado and Master of Ceremony to the governor, Faruk Bello-Birnin Kebbi.

Penpushing further reports that in reacting to the development Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kebbi State Council, has rejected the decision describing it as counterproductive to journalism profession as well as the promotion of Kebbi government’s activities.

The Chairman of the correspondent chapel El-Yakubu Usman-Dabai, noted that it was not proper and unethical for the Governor to the coverage opportunities to just three out of about eighteen members, comprising both electronics and print, as well as online

“A situation whereby we have about 18 members, representing different media outfits within and outside Nigeria, each with different in-house media style, it’s not proper and it’s unethical to give opportunities to only three members.

‘The government officials should not be unmindful of the fact that, we have representatives of television, radio, newspapers and online media outlets whose in-house style varies from one another’, Usman-Daba said.

“When you pick newspapers to cover your functions, you deny other journalists their constitutional rights to keep Kebbi people informed on the good works of the governor. We have people living in remotest areas that rely solely on radio and television to receive information about government’s policies and programmes in the state’, he said.

Penpushing also reports that he called on the concerned officials to rescind their decision as journalists were partners in progress, adding that they should not undermine the constitutional provision that recognised journalists as the “Forth Estate of the Realm.”

The chapels’ Secretary, Ibrahim Bello, in his own response advised the media aides to the Governor to educate the concerned government officials on the modus operandi of practicing journalists for the development of the state.

The Secretary, however, appealed to correspondents’ chapel members who he described as patriotic and hardworking to be patient and calmed assuring that the leadership of the chapel is working hard to resolve the matters amicably

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