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By Madu Obi
Members of the Correspondents' Chapel of the Amambra State council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, have threatened to boycott activities of the state government due to what they described as the snubbing attitude of the officials.
A statement signed by the chapel's chairman, Chuks Ilozue, and secretary, Tochukwu Ifejika, said the journalists took the stand after reviewing its relationship with the state government in the last two years.
They observed that despite several correspondences, a serious lacuna has continued to exist in the relationship between the chapel and the government.
According to the chapel, the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo, Commissioner for Information, Paul Nwosu, and Press Secretary to the Governor, Christian Aburime are not reckoning with journalists.
Expressing frustration over the state government's lack of cooperation and responsiveness to their requests, they highlighted instances of disregard by government officials, including the failure to respond to inquiries, ignoring requests for interviews, and excluding journalists from important events.
They lamented that lack of access to information has been hindering their ability to report accurately and effectively on government activities.
The statement read: "There is a serious lacuna in the relationship between the chapel and government occasioned by the attitude of the governor, his government and his media team towards Correspondents' Chapel.
It baffles us that our governor can stay for two years without meeting members of the Correspondents Chapel to intimate Anambra people of his programmes and activities.
Chapel members are bewildered that we are not being carried along in the coverage of government activities, rather we are fed with press releases/statements.
We therefore demand a review of this relationship, to enable us to hold government accountable as required by extant laws.
We state that if the current state of relationship persists, we will deem it that the governor, his government and his media team do not need our relationship, and therefore we shall be left with no other option than to act accordingly."
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