Abuja- NUJ President, Mohammed Garba, on Tuesday in Abuja, called for adequate security for journalists to enable them to carry out their constitutional role effectively during the 2015 general elections.
Garba, who made the call at the 45th meeting of the National Council on Information, expressed concern over assaults on some journalists by security personnel and political thugs during elections.
He said some journalists were intimidated and their equipment vandalised during the last gubernatorial elections in Ekiti and Osun states.
He added that “as we talk about the 2015 general elections, we must ensure that journalists who cover the elections are secured.’’
The NUJ boss said that the union recently trained no fewer than 100 journalists on safety measures for the 2015 elections.
Garba said NUJ had also presented Code of Ethics to INEC on the upcoming 2015 elections and worked on safety codes for journalists in the coverage of the 2015 elections.
He, however expressed regret over the recent ruling of a Lagos High Court that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) should be domesticated by states before it could take effect in the states.
He described the ruling as a setback to the yearnings by Nigerians to hold their leaders accountable for their actions.
Garba also said that the union was already collaborating with state governments with a view to domesticating the Act at the state level.
He appealed to commissioners for information in the states to cooperate with the union so as to fast-track the process of domesticating the FOIA.
The NUJ president also called for improved welfare for journalists to be able to carry out their constitutional responsibilities to the society.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the two-day meeting has “Strategic Information Management for Credible and Peaceful Elections’’ as its theme. (NAN)
