Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, Justice Danladi Umar has clarified that he was only joking with his advocacy for the return of Decree 2 to regulate the practice of journalism in the country.
Umar said that contrary to the impression created in the media, he did not advocate for the decree to harass, intimidate or arrest journalists or any Nigerian for whatever reason.
In a press statement released by the public relations officer of the tribunal, Ibrahim Alhassan, the public was urged to regard the statement as a joke made in good faith and not to obstruct the practice of journalism in the country.
“The statement by the chairman was made out of joke, not to intimidate any member of the Fourth Estate of the Realm in this country from observing their statutory functions as mandated by the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, as anchored in liberal democratic society like ours.
“The chairman only cracked the joke following his discovery that some media organisations had in their report claimed that his tribunal had adjourned the trial of the Senate president, Dr. Bukola Saraki, on false declaration of assets indefinitely.
“The chairman in his remarks without any bias or hatred said in the open court that the publication of adjournment sine die, meaning indefinitely adjournment, was not true reflection of the decision of the tribunal when the adjournment issue was decided.
“We wish to state that the CCT chairman as a law-abiding citizen recognises the role assigned to media practitioners by law and would not do anything to hinder the media practitioners from doing their legitimate jobs.
“It is also on record that there has been no conflict between the media and the CCT on one side and chairman on the other side with the media practitioners since they have been covering the high …Read More
Source:: Nigerian Pilot
