29th October, 2018
Jethro Ibileke/Benin
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State on Monday explained that he has never called any journalist to query a news report because he is a “believer of press freedom.”
The governor, who stated this when members of Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Edo State Council, paid him a courtesy visit.
He pledged to support journalists to enable them succeed in the discharge of their constitutional responsibility.
Obaseki said: “It is important for us that journalists succeed in their job. And as long as you are in Edo, it is my responsibility to ensure that you succeed beyond what is obtainable in other States.”
The governor further disclosed that his administration was restructuring the State-owned Nigerian Observer newspaper, adding that printing machines would be purchased for the company’s press before the end of the year.
He also disclosed plans by his administration to add a commercial printing plant to the newspaper company.
“I don’t like to sack people…the staff will be retrained to fit a purpose in the area of digital publishing,” he declared.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel, Mrs. Nefishetu Yakubu, called for synergy between government and the media.
She disclosed that journalists had kept faith with professional ethics through fair and balanced reportage of government activities.