AHEAD of the 2019 general elections, Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State has urged Nigerian media to play key roles in ensuring peaceful polls.
The governor who was speaking through his Counsellor Information and Communication, Saidu Adamu at the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kaduna on Thursday said journalists played key roles in ensuring peaceful polls in 2015 while calling for ethical, balanced and well-researched news reports.
He said, “you have roles to play to ensure we have peaceful elections in 2019.
‘ You played vital roles in 2015 for us to have this government of change. People are eager to have changed but change has to come in phases. People are so worried and agitated forgetting the fact that it is gradual.”
el-Rufai appealed to journalists in the state to forgive them of mistakes which they may have made in the past and work with them, noting that the el-Rufai government needs the media in projecting its activities to the masses.
“We need you as journalists more than you need us. Mistakes are part and parcel of us, I want us to forget the mistakes and move forward. We should forget the past and be focused on how to move forward. We are human beings we make mistakes,” he said.
Responding to insinuations that he has failed to fulfil promises made in 2015, he disagreed, saying that promises serve as a guide to the government.
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“The government has touched all 23 local governments of the state with development programmes, but projects are prioritized for execution based on available funds.
“Promises are ongoing. Promises are made based on anticipation. Don’t say Governor el-Rufai made promises and failed. Promises are made as guides and when the funds are available, they are executed.
“We prioritize projects. There is no local government area where we didn’t do anything. We cannot do everything for everyone all the time,” he said.
He admonished journalists to avoid hate speech reports and filing news without balancing, stressing that such an attitude makes them unprofessional.
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