2023: Journalists Barred From Covering Distribution Of Election Materials

Journalists covering the activities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kebbi State were on Wednesday prevented from witnessing the distribution of sensitive electoral materials.

The electoral materials were distributed to the 21 local government areas of the state.

Reports however said journalists who showed up to the Kebbi branch of the Central Bank were denied entrance to witness the events.

 The newsmen were officially invited by the INEC in the state to cover the event via a letter signed by its Administrative Secretary, 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 at the CBN at about 8:30 a.m., but were kept waiting at the reception for more than three hours without any official attending to them.

Disturbed by the development, the Deputy Director of Voter Education and Publicity,  Muhammad Rabi’u, arrived at the scene at about 12:20 p.m. and spoke with the internal security men on duty at the bank to admit the journalists into the distribution area.

The security men 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 the Correspondents’ Chapel in the state, Umar Faruq, expressed dismay, recalling that a 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 materials 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.

Neither INEC nor the CBN gave any explanation for the action.