Journalists in Kano have accused the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) of selecting only a few of their members to cover the governorship and State House of Assembly results collation. They warned they would boycott the process unless the situation was corrected immediately.
INEC Public Relations Officer Adam Maulud issued a statement, later supplemented with an addendum, indicating that only a limited number of journalists would be allowed to cover the collation exercise on Sunday. The collation of results is expected to begin at about 2:00 p.m. When asked for an explanation, Maulud said the restriction was due to security and logistics concerns. He added, “Even the national and international observers, civil‑society networks and other vital organs, including journalists, have had the number of those covering the collations reduced because of security and logistics problems.”
In response, State Correspondent Chapel Chairman Ibrahim Garba issued a counter‑statement urging journalists to refrain from attending. “Members are hereby notified to stay away from the place and await an official position from our leaders over the coverage of the governorship result collation,” Garba said. He questioned why journalists were allowed to endure the rigours of registration for full coverage of the 2023 elections, only to be barred at the point when results are released.
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