THE Nasarawa State Government on Saturday said Governor
Abdullahi Sule never said he does not care about second term in
office.
It said the governor only said he was neither threatened nor
distracted by the ranting of the opposition in the state branding
him a “one term” governor.
The Director-General, Strategic Communication and Press Affairs
to the governor, Yakubu Lamai, made the clarifications in a
statement.
The statement was against the backdrop of the controversy
generated by a report alleging that the governor said he does not
care about second term.
The statement said: “The truth of the matter was that a
journalist asked Governor Sule if he felt threatened by the fickle
boasting and ranting by some members of the political opposition
that he is “a one term governor”, and the governor responded by
saying that he was neither threatened nor distracted by such empty
babble and political rabble rousers.
He said instead, “he was grateful to the Almighty Allah for
having given him his first four-year mandate!”
“The entire report and negative slant is false and a deliberate
distortion of the truth for the purpose of sensationalism, as a
weaponized political propaganda to cause disaffection among the
teeming political supporters of Engineer Abdullahi A. Sule
“We wish to put it on record that the report is most
uncharitable and goes against the letter and spirit of the code of
ethics for Nigerian journalists approved by the Nigerian Press
Organisation which states that, “truth is the cornerstone of
journalism and every journalist should strive diligently to
ascertain the truth of every event!”
The statement asked journalists to avoid publishing inaccurate
and misleading information.
It added: “We in the office of Governor Abdullahi A. Sule note
that while everyone has the right to say whatever he or she wants,
those with influence over audiences like journalists have the moral
responsibility to exercise their free speech with vigilance.
“A speech is like an open book that is being read out loud.
There is so much knowledge worth sharing and interpretation, but
our reporters should please remember that journalism entails a high
degree of public trust and as purveyors of information; we should
refrain from publishing inaccurate and misleading information but
provide to the public, factual, accurate, balanced and fair
reportage.”
THE Nasarawa State Government on Saturday said Governor
Abdullahi Sule never said he does not care about second term in
office.
It said the governor only said he was neither threatened nor
distracted by the ranting of the opposition in the state branding
him a “one term” governor.
The Director-General, Strategic Communication and Press Affairs
to the governor, Yakubu Lamai, made the clarifications in a
statement.
The statement was against the backdrop of the controversy
generated by a report alleging that the governor said he does not
care about second term.
The statement said: “The truth of the matter was that a
journalist asked Governor Sule if he felt threatened by the fickle
boasting and ranting by some members of the political opposition
that he is “a one term governor”, and the governor responded by
saying that he was neither threatened nor distracted by such empty
babble and political rabble rousers.
He said instead, “he was grateful to the Almighty Allah for
having given him his first four-year mandate!”
“The entire report and negative slant is false and a deliberate
distortion of the truth for the purpose of sensationalism, as a
weaponized political propaganda to cause disaffection among the
teeming political supporters of Engineer Abdullahi A. Sule
“We wish to put it on record that the report is most
uncharitable and goes against the letter and spirit of the code of
ethics for Nigerian journalists approved by the Nigerian Press
Organisation which states that, “truth is the cornerstone of
journalism and every journalist should strive diligently to
ascertain the truth of every event!”
The statement asked journalists to avoid publishing inaccurate
and misleading information.
It added: “We in the office of Governor Abdullahi A. Sule note
that while everyone has the right to say whatever he or she wants,
those with influence over audiences like journalists have the moral
responsibility to exercise their free speech with vigilance.
“A speech is like an open book that is being read out loud.
There is so much knowledge worth sharing and interpretation, but
our reporters should please remember that journalism entails a high
degree of public trust and as purveyors of information; we should
refrain from publishing inaccurate and misleading information but
provide to the public, factual, accurate, balanced and fair
reportage.”