Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has barred some journalists from the state house.
In a letter tagged “Administrative Re-Organisation”, signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Habib Aruna and sent to the various media organisations of the affected journalists, the governor said that his decision was based on strategic administrative reform.
The affected journalists include Wole Farotimi of the Sun Newspaper, Festus Odofin Sun Newspaper, Sulaymon Abdulkareem Rhythm FM, Taiwo Olapade Inspiration FM, Olasunkanmi Akoni Vanguard Newspaper, Kola Olasupo ThisDay Newspaper and Wole Oyebade of the Guardian.
The letter requested the media organisations to withdraw the journalists and replace them with new ones even when the reform was in no way an indictment on the barred correspondents or the media house they represented.
It would be recalled that in 2012, the former governor of the state, Babatunde Fashola (SAN) took similar step through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Akeem Bello when he sacked 16 journalists from the state house.
Speaking to Silverbirdtv Online, the affected journalists said that the governor and his aide had failed to give reasons for their de-accreditation as they argued that the decision was beyond administrative re-organisation.
The journalists stated that prior to the letter, Aruna gave forms to all the correspondents reporting the activities of the Lagos state house to fill as it was done during Fashola’s regime.
“We filled the form and the next thing we saw was a letter of de-accreditation and we think this is more of personal grudge than government policy.
Aruna sees some journalists as threat and he is not comfortable with them. This is because there are journalists who have spent more years than us at the state house that were not barred,” they said.
The affected journalists argued that bad precedence had been laid at the Lagos State House where journalists would have to compromise with the government or bar from the state house.
“There is no objectivity in reporting again. Journalists at Lagos State House are compelled to use press statement instead of coming up with the real news,” the journalists stated.
