Kogi State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has advised politicians against tainting media practitioners.
The Chairman, Momohjimoh Adeiza, who addressed a media briefing, yesterday in Lokoja, deplored utterances of political stakeholders during the recently held primaries across the state.
He said this advice became necessary against the backdrop of insinuations that journalists colluded with politicians to announce fake results.
According to him, reporters toured the nooks and crannies of the state to monitor the primaries, noting that his observation indicated that journalists performed creditably in terms of fairness.
His words: “Their report was balanced. They were able to bring out where election took place and some places where it did not hold, those that witnessed late arrival of personnel.
“Having monitored and reported the process in our media outlets, journalists converged on the collation centre at the state All Progressives Congress (APC) secretariat in Lokoja and tarried till 3:00a.m. to witness declaration of results.
“For any aggrieved politician to now assert that all these sacrifices amounted to collusion, is not just far from the truth, but also shows disregard for journalists and their organisations.
“For us at Kogi NUJ, we stand by reports of members as published in their various media outlets.
“We want to use this medium to advise our politicians to always seek legal redress whenever outcome of election is unfavourable, rather than resorting to blackmail.
“I wish to also urge all journalists in the state to continue to uphold ethical standards throughout this election season and beyond.
“To the aspirants, who lost at the primaries, let them know that journalists are not and will never be their problems, as they go in search of solution to their problems.”
