The Imo State government has said that the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) lacks empirical credibility to assess press freedom in Nigeria.

It has also mocked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for celebrating the lowest rating of 37th position, with 40.70 per cent slammed on Imo State by the Openness Index Report presented by the CJID at the weekend in Abuja.

The centre had declared Imo, Bauchi and Lagos states as the most “dangerous and hostile environments for journalists” in Nigeria, during the presentation of the 2024 assessed report.

Cross River state was adjudged the best in press freedom in the country, scoring over 70 per cent in the 50 per cent average score baseline.

In a statement issued at the weekend by the Commissioner for Information, Public Orientation and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, the state government accused the centre of publishing “false claims, biased, jaundiced, unreliable, and unempirical” report, accusing the PDP of crass ignorance, stressing that the centre is owned by the online publisher of Premium Times.

Emelumba said the assessor did not show evidence of journalists’ intimidation, harassment and untoward treatment, noting that the centre “demonstrated a lack of the pedigree and essential logistics to conduct a credible assessment of journalism practice in the country,” adding: “As an online publication, Premium Times is reputed for undue sensationalism.”

The Commissioner alleged that the first report published by the centre was “fraught with fallacies and sensational stunts.”

The statement condemned the hasty response to the said report by the PDP, accusing it of baseless propaganda arising from disinformation.