A serious commotion erupted on Wednesday at the Secretariat of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Ebonyi State chapter, as the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Chukwumaka Joseph Chukwu barred Journalists from covering its program in the state.
Recall that the embattled speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, EBSHA, Mr. Francis Nwifuru had directed the clerk of the house to write a memo to INEC to conduct a fresh election to fill the three (3) seats of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP lawmakers’ whose seats were declared vacant.
Barley 24 hours after the speaker issued the directives, the REC Chukwu, decided to convoke a meeting, allegedly to comply with the directive but when journalists arrive at the area to cover the program, the commission shut them out.
Investigations revealed that the Commission had something to hide, especially as the House of Assembly had urged INEC to conduct an election to replace three PDP lawmakers whose seats were declared vacant.
The problem started around 11:15am but when correspondents from various media organizations in the state gathered at the conference hall of the INEC office located along the Town Planning Way for a briefing by the State Resident Electoral Commission, REC, the commission ordered journalists to vacate the hall.
The State INEC Administrative Secretary, Mr Clement Oha, summoned the journalists to his office and blatantly told them to their chagrin that the scheduled briefing was not for massive coverage.
The REC said, “the Commission does not need the massive coverage of its activities, we don’t need this whole press,
Addressing members of the Correspondent Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Ebonyi State Council, the Vice Chairman of the Chapel, Comrade Uchenna Inya expressed dismay over the action of the Commission.
Comrade Inya said the Commission cannot work effectively without the partnership of journalists in the state and called on the Chairman of the Commission, Prof Mahmud Yakubu to call the Resident Electoral Commission, Ebonyi State to order.
He warned that if the commission continues with such unprofessional disposition, the Correspondents Chapel will not hesitate to boycott all INEC programmes and activities in the State.
