The Clerk of the Senate Committee on Special Duties, Mr. Kabir Yaba Umar, on October 25, 2019 chased journalists out of the venue of budget defence session saying he was carrying out a directive from the Chairman of the Senate Committee on North-East Development Commission and the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and IDPs, that no journalist should be allowed to cover the session, besides those from the Nigerian Television authority (NTA) and Africa Independent Television (AIT).
The Clerk had earlier on asked chairman of Senate correspondent chapel to select three journalists to cover the event to which the Correspondent chairman explained that no accredited journalist will be excluded.
Journalists from different media houses gathered at the venue to cover the two events at Senate Committee Room 211 scheduled for 2pm and 4pm. However, the clerk ordered them to leave in the full glare of the Chairman, Senator Yusuf Yusuf, and other members of the panel.
He told the journalists, “Go and write whatever you want to write I have right to determine who should be allowed into the budget defence session or otherwise.
“I have already told your colleagues who had been here before you that you guys are not wanted here. I have the directive of the Chairman to do what I’m doing. Go ahead and write whatever you want write”.
The committee was meeting to defend the budget on humanitarian crises in the northeast, with a view to rebuilding, rehabilitating and reconstructing the region.
