ENUGU JOURNALISTS SAY PETER MBAH INVITED THEM TO GOVT HOUSE TO PREVENT COVERAGE OF NYSC TESTIMONY

ENUGU JOURNALISTS SAY PETER MBAH INVITED THEM TO GOVT HOUSE TO PREVENT COVERAGE OF NYSC TESTIMONY

Journalists plying their trade in Enugu have accused the State Governor, Peter Ndubuisi Mbah of scheduling a press briefing to coincide with the State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting as a ploy to prevent them from covering and reporting the testimony of the National Youth Service Corps, against him.

Speaking at the end of the maiden press briefing with the Enugu governor, journalists wondered why the meeting was scheduled on the same day and time that the tribunal was commencing the trial of the petition, particularly as the National Youth Service Corps was also going to give evidence against the governor.

Journalists who spoke to Enugu Monitor were miffed by Gov. Mbah’s hospitality, wondering why the paltry sum of N10,000 was given as honorarium to each of the 35 journalists invited to the governor’s very first post-inauguration press parley.

“This governor is starting very badly, a journalist who attended the event was overheard telling one of his colleagues at the precincts of Enugu State Government House, as they left the event. Who is even advising him? How can he bring senior journalists here, keep us for three hours and give N10,000?”

“This is even an insult,” retorted his colleague. “This is his first meeting with us, and rather than tell us what his agenda is, he was busy telling us to cooperate with him in his battle with unknown gunmen. Are we policemen that fight criminals?”

When Enugu Monitor spoke to some other journalists, who attended the event, the sentiments were the same, with most of them convinced that the press parley was a ploy to ensure that they did cover the tribunal sitting.

“I think the governor was trying to be clever, but he ended up being clever by half,” a correspondent with one of the national newspapers told Enugu Monitor. He thought that by keeping us at the Government House, there would be a blackout on the testimony given by the NYSC at the tribunal. But he does not know that most of the media houses in Enugu have more than one correspondent. There are some of us who also have our boys who help us cover events on days when two or more events ‘clash’. Our boys were at the tribunal and were even sending us updates while we were at the Government House.”

Another journalist, who spoke on the matter, said the effort by Governor Peter Mbah to ensure that Friday’s testimony by NYSC at the tribunal was not covered presented him as desperate and dishonest and also suggests he believes that journalists are not intelligent people.

“He thinks he is smarter than us. If he was smart, he should have known that there was no way we would not find a way to cover the tribunal event, because any journalist that does not file stories from that sitting will be queried from his head office. I am even happy that most of us attended the event. It has helped us know who he is and how we are going to work with him. Had we not responded to his invitation, the next thing you will hear is that the Labour Party has bought us over. But thank God we were there and still covered the tribunal,” he said.

Friday’s sitting of the Governorship Elections Petitions Tribunal was crucial as the Director of Certification of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Aliyu Abdul Mohammed, gave evidence of certificate forgery against Governor Mbah.

Mohammed tendered a certified true copy of the authentic discharge certificate of Governor Mbah, which was at variance with the copy he submitted to the independent national Electoral Commission (INEC).

The court adjourned sitting till Tuesday, 11th July 2023.