Why Journalists Were Barred From Aso Villa – Presidency

Why Journalists Were Barred From Aso Villa – Presidency

The Presidency has issued a response regarding the exclusion of nearly twenty-five journalists from covering activities at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

In a conversation with The ICIR on Thursday, August 24, the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, clarified that the action was an internal measure aimed at reducing overcrowding across all departments within the State House.

Ngelale clarified that this reduction wasn’t exclusive to the media department, saying, “This internal effort is geared towards mitigating overcrowding across all State House departments, not just the Media department.”

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He explained that the number of print photographers had been reduced to optimize the utilization of the remaining six photographers, excluding numerous videographers. This decision stemmed from security concerns raised by State House officials and visiting dignitaries regarding the congested press gallery area, which obstructed the path to the President’s Office.

Ngelale noted that advanced notice of the reduction had been provided to the entire Press Corps. He added that a total of 62 Press corps members, including major print, online, and electronic media outlets, were unaffected.

Reports emerged over the weekend indicating that President Bola Tinubu had ordered the withdrawal of accreditations for 25 journalists covering the Villa. Findings from The ICIR revealed that security personnel at the main gate of the Villa instructed the affected journalists to surrender their accreditation tags on Friday, August 18. No specific reason for the withdrawal was given.

A source, preferring anonymity, confirmed the incident to The ICIR. This source indicated that those impacted were primarily online journalists and cameramen. The source acknowledged that the press gallery at the State House was indeed overpopulated, necessitating the reduction in numbers.

The source disclosed, “Yes, I can confirm that about 25 journalists were stopped from covering the Villa. Most of those affected are from online media houses and cameramen. Most of the camera operators still have their reporters there. We have over 100 journalists covering the Villa and most of them do not represent any credible media house. Most mainstream media houses were not affected. We still have a large number there.”

This incident reportedly occurred on a Friday. The group of affected journalists encompassed reporters, cameramen, and photographers from diverse broadcast, print, and online media organizations.

Credit: The ICIR