Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers State, has said Nigeria is in politically “terrifying times,” which requires objectivity from the media.
Wike said this while declaring open the 12th All Nigeria Editors Conference, organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors in Port Harcourt on Thursday, August 4, 2016.
“In these politically terrifying times, we urge every one of you to be objective in your coverage and reportage of events and stand with the people of Rivers State in our quest for free and fair re-run elections,” he said.
Wike, who accused the media of being involved in a conspiracy of silence against the people of the state and of negatively reporting events in the state, said Rivers had been denied legitimate representation at the National Assembly.
“The 8th National Assembly is well into the second year of its four-year tenure without any Rivers State representative in the Senate,” Governor Wike said.
“We have only a fraction of Rivers representatives in the House of Representatives. Yet, the press is maintaining conspiratorial silence over the continuing repression and deliberate denial of the state’s constitutional right to full and effective representation at the National Assembly.
“The question is: can Rivers State legitimately be bound by legislation or resolutions from the 8th National Assembly passed without our representation and input?”
Calling on media organisations to play their expected role, Wike said, “As the watchdog and guardians of the public interest, no other profession can give us the opportunity to know the truth about our country, about our leaders, about the state of our democracy, about ourselves, and about governments than journalists.”
