Mr Dogo Shammah, Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism in Nasarawa State, says the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) will be domesticated in the state.
Shammah who is the immediate past Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the state, gave the assurance in Lafia on Sunday during a meeting with members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the NUJ.
According to the commissioner, the era of denying journalists access to information in the state is over.
He said that as a professional journalist, he was aware of the difficulties journalists encounter in the cause of discharging their duties.
“This government will operate an open door policy and will ensure journalists get information from all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
“This will ease the work of the journalists and also ensure that the activities of government is properly reported to the outside world,” he said.
Shammah said that he would seek approval of the governor to carry out sensitisation of all MDAs to ensure that they all key into the plan.
The commissioner appealed to media practitioners to get across to him when facing difficulty in accessing information from MDAs before going to the press.
“Once any journalist contacts me on any issue, I will make sure that government’s response is given to balance the report,” he said.
He promised to do everything possible to ensure a cordial relationship with journalists in the state, especially the correspondents’ Chapel.
Earlier, Isaac Ukpoju, Chairman of the chapel, congratulated the commissioner on his appointment.
He expressed gratitude to the governor for appointing the former NUJ chairman as a commissioner and posting him to the ministry.
Ukpoju said that practising journalists in the state would partner the commissioner and the government for proper reportage of their activities. (NAN)
