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Oshiomhole tasks journalists on impartial reportage

By Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Michael Egbejule, Benin City and Emeka Anuforo, Abuja
09 September 2016   |   4:00 am
The governor alleged that the Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and his Delta State counterpart, Ifeanyi Okowa, had deployed militants in the state to perpetrate violence and disrupt the governorship elections.
Adams oshiomhole

Adams oshiomhole

Adams Oshiomhole has charged journalists to be fair and impartial in their reports, saying there’s no democracy without a free press.

He spoke while receiving the leadership of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) led by its President, Waheed Odusile, who paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, Benin City.

The governor alleged that the Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and his Delta State counterpart, Ifeanyi Okowa, had deployed militants in the state to perpetrate violence and disrupt the governorship elections.

He urged the security agents to watch out for such planned violence, as the All Progressives Congress (APC) was ready for the election. He warned, “no nobody should shed the blood of our people.”

According to Oshiomhole: “Though people are trying to rubbish the intelligence report of the security agents, I have had cause to raise the alarm about the decision of the south south governors to make Edo ungovernable during the election and perpetrate violence.”

He said: “As we speak, both governors have raised N2billion to give to Ize-Iyamu, even when they could not pay salaries in their states. They mobilised militants to the state to register, preparatory to using them for violence in this election.

“We have eliminated violence in our elections here, but in my election in 2007, the PDP killed three people at Oba Primary School and brutalised hundreds of others. But thereafter, we have ensured free and fair election in the state.

Oshiomhole explained: “The role of the media is very clear. We can’t have democracy without free press, which is the people’s right to know all sides of the story, even as they say facts are sacred and opinion is free.”

Earlier, Odusile pledged a balanced reportage of the election. He added that as the governor rounds up his tenure, the media would give him “a fair reportage of their observation of your administration in Edo State.”

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