The Nigeria Union of Journalists NUJ Niger State Council has said that the State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago should tread with caution and in accordance with democratic tenets in issuing orders.
The NUJ in a statement issued and made available to Journalists in the State, noted that in exercising executive powers especially as it relates to the media industry, the Governor should tread with care.
The statement which was signed by the Council Scribe, Usman Chiji as an aftermath of the directive issued by the state governor to security agencies to clamp down on Badeggi FM.
The Council took the decision after an emergency State working Committee meeting; it urged the Governor to understand the role of the media in holding public officers accountable.
The statement added that it is only the National Broadcasting Commission NBC that has legal powers to issue license to radio and television stations and can also revoke the same through judicial interpretations when such stations err.
The Union then called on the Governor to approach NBC and formally lodge his complaint rather than outright directive to close down the station whose licensing is not within his executive power.
The NUJ was of the belief that, the Governor would have made effective use of the NUJ as professional body to table issues relating professional misconducts.
The Statement however cautioned that, in as much as the Union will not support gagging of the media houses by the authorities, it urged practitioners in the State to always abide by the ethics of the profession to uphold public confidence adding that in line with this a committee headed by a Senior Journalist Pastor Dan Amasingha was recently set up to ensure re-validation of membership of the union.
The NUJ reminded the Governor on the need to carry media practitioners and houses along through partnerships instead of ordering for their Closure that is against democratic principles.
The union therefore urged the immediate withdrawal of the order in the interest of democracy, invariably press freedom.
