By Ibrahim Bello/Muhammad Lawal
Journalists covering the activities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kebbi State have been barred from reporting the distribution of sensitive electoral materials.
This is coming barely three days to the gubernatorial and state assembly elections scheduled for March 18 across the country.
The electoral materials were being distributed on Wednesday to the 21 local government areas of the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the newsmen were officially invited by the INEC in the state to cover the event via a letter signed by its Administrative Secretary, Alhaji Muhammad Ushama.
The invitation letter asked the journalists to report at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) office in Birnin Kebbi on Wednesday by 10 a.m. to ensure transparency.
The newsmen honoured the invitation and started arriving the CBN at about 8:30 a.m, but were kept waiting at the reception for more than three without any official attending to them.
Disturbed by the development, the Deputy Director, Voter Education and Publicity, Mr Muhammad Rabi’u, arrived the scene at about 12:20 p.m, pleading unsuceesfully with the internal security men on duty at the bank to admit the journalists into the distribution area.
The securitymen insisted that they had not received any order from above to allow the coverage of the distribution exercise by newsmen.
The disappointed journalists however left the CBN premises with suspicion to attend other daily activities.
Reacting to the development, the Vice Chairman of Correspondents’ Chapel in the state, Alhaji Umar Faruq, expressed dismay, recalling that similar episode happened in 2019, where the CBN barred journalists from gaining access to the distribution point.
“We are not here on our own, we were invited to come and cover the distribution exercise of the sensitive matarials for transparency and fairness, and we deemed it as our constitutional responsibility to report the exercise to the general public.
“I don’t know why they denied us access to the distribution point. This will give room for suspicion and assumption of foul play, especially by political parties,” he said.
The INEC and CBN are yet to offer any explanation on the action. (NAN)
