By Samuel Ogidan
Ahead of 2015 general elections, the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Adamu Mu’azu, yesterday urged party members to unite to conduct free, fair credible primaries.
Speaking at the weekly meeting of the national working committee of the party, Mu’azu said “we should be united to conduct free, fair and credible primaries as that would enable the party win elections.”
The NWC also celebrated Mu’azu on his 59th birthday, taking turns to pay glowing tribute to him.
The national chairman also refuted reports that he intended to gag the press.
Mu’azu in a statement by his senior assistant on ICT, Akin Oyegoke, was reacting to what he called “yet another misleading article in one of the online media on June 9, 2014, in which it was reported that Mu’azu said “he will not tolerate any negative report from the media when he resumed office.”
But the statement said: “We wish to state that the national Chairman of the PDP during his chat with the press corps covering the PDP spoke on various issues affecting the party and the nation and gave a roadmap to reposition the party as is visible today in the current positive developments in the PDP.
“He also applauded the contribution of the Nigerian press in their reportage and at no time admonished members of the media as was captioned in the said article.
“We, therefore, wish to urge the media to abide by all ethics and privileges of the press in their reportage and continue to remain an unbiased umpire, show transparency, neutrality and above all remember that democracy is the only vehicle to actualise the freedom that we all enjoy today, there is no alternative to democracy.”