By GARBA MUHAMMAD, Kaduna

The Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor of Niger State, Mary Noel-Berje, has assured that she will be neutral in the forthcoming election of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Niger State Council.

The CPS stated this when she recently received on courtesy visit, the 2021 NUJ Credential Committee at the Government House, Minna.

The spokesperson of the Governor who promised to deal directly with the committee and not an individual or a contestant for the success of the election, urged the contestants not to see the election as a do-or-die affair.

“Let no contestant see this game as a do-or-die thing. Please let us respect ourselves, when you drink muddy water just to attain this position, it will still come to play,” she said.

She also enjoined the committee to learn from the past elections and make positive progress.

“Looking at the election the last time, I will prefer this to be more civilized so that at the end of the day, everyone that contested will be comfortable with the outcome of the election,” she added.

The CPS promised to support them to attain a seamless election while calling on them to be transparent and credible in their conduct.

Earlier, the Chairman of the NUJ Niger State Council Credential Committee, Dan Amasingha, explained that their visit was to solicit support and urge the CPS to “be mother to all and enemy to none” in the forthcoming NUJ election, pointing out that election will come and go.

The Chairman of the Committee said it is important for the office of the CPS to make it clear to all relevant stakeholders that the State Government has no preferred candidate so as to ensure a peaceful and successful election.

Amasingha noted that if there is crisis in the union as a result of election, it might affect the reportage of Government activities in the state negatively.

He said the union is a group of informed and educated persons, hence they will conduct themselves in an exemplary way worthy of emulation.

The Chairman said the committee will reel out the code of conduct to all the contestants, stressing that they will do everything possible to ensure a free, fair and credible election.

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