Zamfara govt restricts political officers, civil servants from granting interviews

The Zamfara State Government has imposed a ban on political office holders, heads of agencies, and civil servants from granting interviews, issuing statements, or participating in programs on radio, television, and social media without prior authorization.

A statement issued by the Commissioner of Information, Mannir Haidara, stated its commitment to monitoring all radio stations to ensure compliance with the directive.

He expressed concern over the unauthorized dissemination of information by persons, political groups, and agency heads regarding the state government’s policies and programs.

To address this, the Ministry of Information and Culture has mandated that all such engagements must be approved by the relevant authorities.

Haidara’s statement reads: “The Zamfara state government has observed with dismay the attitudes of some individuals, political groups and heads of MDAs towards conducting radio, television stations and social media platforms interviews and programmes on state government’s policies and programmes without following the right channels.

“In an effort to checkmate the unwanted behaviour, the Zamfara state Ministry of Information and Culture hereby announce that henceforth no political office holder, group or head of any agencies is allowed to conduct any interview, issue statement or air a programme on radio, television stations or social media without seeking a permission from the authority.

“Moreover, the Ministry of Information and Culture is hereby calling on the media organisations based in the state to desist from conducting or airing any radio or television programmes on government’s policies for any individuals or group of people without the approval of the supervising Ministry or the Ministry of Information.

“The information ministry is highly committed to observing and monitoring the radio stations for compliance and ensuring that all Information passed to the general public on government and its policies are true and properly disseminated”.