By Amos Aar
THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has sought a symbiotic working relationship with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Benue State Council, to ensure that activities of the Commission are positively projected especially as the 2023 general elections draw nearer.
Administrative Secretary of the Commission in Benue State, Mr Shehu Adulwahab, made the solicitation Tuesday when he led other state officials to pay a courtesy call on the NUJ State Chairman, Comrade Vincent Nyinongu, at the Council Secretariat in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.
Mr Abdulwahab said the visit became necessary because NUJ has a mandate to correct misinformation and to regulate the activities of its members to ensure peace in the society.
“It’s not the business of INEC, and it is out of our purview, to control the reader. But where the right information is not being rolled out to the extent that the public is fed with something different, we have a duty to correct such misinformation,” Abdulwahab said.
He assured that INEC would continue to involve the media in its activities and programmes for proper information dissemination.
In his response, the NUJ State Chairman, Comrade Nyinongu, who thanked the INEC Administrative secretary and his entourage for the visit, said the union will not relent in its role to ensure that members of the journalism profession practise in line with the ethics of the profession.
The NUJ Chairman called on INEC to train journalists to cover 2023 general elections. He also tasked INEC on proper conduct of elections to avoid reportage that may seem negative and unfavourable to them.
Those on the entourage of the INEC secretary during the courtesy call include the Head of Department, General Administration and Procurement, Sylvanus Mabur, Head of Department, Electoral Operations, Mr Ibrahim Moddibo, Head of Department, Voter Education and Publicity, Mr Musa Sekpe, Head of Department, Legal Services, Collins Nanshal and Public Affairs Officer, Mr Terkaa Andyar.
In a related development, the District Head (Tyoor) of Ankpa/Wadata Ward, Chief Asema Iortim, paid a familiarisation visit to the NUJ State Chairman, Comrade Nyinongu, at the Council Secretariat on the same day (4th October, 2022).
Chief Iortim said he was aware that a new State leadership of the NUJ has come on board hence the need for him to interface with them as a traditional ruler in whose domain the union’s secretariat is situated.
Comrade Nyinongu appreciated Chief Iortim for his fatherly visit, saying that he and the entire NUJ Council in the state felt secured with the royal Chief’s show of care and support.
