Alhaji Sabo Bamanga, a renown member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa state, has advised practising journalists against sensational stories capable of causing disunity in Nigeria.
Bamanga made the appeal while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yola on Tuesday.
He described media as a veritable tool for promotion of democracy, rule of law and the fundamental rights of the citizenry, stressing “we cannot underestimate the significant role of the media in championing the cause of humanity”.
The politician urged journalists and the media outfits in Nigeria to be fair, balanced and objective in their reportage, saying media practitioners were judges operating in the court of public opinion.
” The media practitioners are by law and their training, expected to be truthful, factual and just to the society,” he added.
He, however, cautioned religious leaders, especially preachers and those delivering sermons in places of worships, to guard their tongues against imflamatory and inciting comments capable of jeoperdizing peace and stability of the nation.
“Politics is not a do-or-die affair, it is a matter of choice and the ability of a particular candidate or political party to sell its manufesto to the electorate,” he said.
Bamanga also advised the politicians to be decent and decorous during their electioneering campaigns as unity of the nation was sacrosanct and it would not be compromised.
” We must conduct our political campaigns in accordance with the laid down rules and regulations as power and affluance comes from God,” he said.(NAN)