The Peoples Democratic Party has apologised following the incident in which one of its staff members, Emmanuel Okoronkwo, assaulted The SUN correspondent, Ndubuisi Orji.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, expressed regret over the incident during a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday and assured all that the matter would be investigated.
Recall that the PDP Press Corps condemned the assault on Orji, by Okoronkwo, a PDP staff member linked to the recently ousted PDP National Secretary, Sam Anyanwu, on Monday.
The Chairman of the PDP Press Corps, Samuel Ogidan, in a statement, disclosed that the incident occurred at the PDP National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, Abuja, on Monday.
The statement read in part, “This incident is not only a breach of Orji’s fundamental human rights but also undermines the core principles of free speech and media independence, a virtue which the PDP lays claim to.
“Eyewitness accounts indicate that Okoronko attacked Orji after first physically preventing him from gaining access to the National Secretariat.
“As Orji made for his vehicle parked outside the vicinity of the secretariat, Okoronkwo pounced on him with a series of slaps heralding other forms of physical assault until private security guards attached to the secretariat rescued him.
“His mobile telephone was damaged.”
In response, Ologunagba stated that the staff member acted independently, emphasising that the party remains committed to upholding the rule of law and the democratic principles of press freedom, transparency, and openness.
“The leadership of the PDP has received a very disturbing report that a staff of our party, Mr Emmanuel Okoronkwo, yesterday assaulted, a correspondent of the Sun Newspapers, Mr Ndubuisi Orji, locked out and forcefully prevented other journalists accredited to cover the activities of the PDP from gaining access into the premises of the national secretariat of our party to conduct their legitimate duties.
“The PDP, as a party committed to the rule of law and the democratic tenets of freedom of the press, transparency and openness strongly condemns and completely dissociates itself from such acts of violence and attack on members of the press and the institution of the media which is critical to the activities of our Party and the sustenance of democracy in Nigeria.
“For clarity, whereas the PDP national secretariat is closed for secretarial activities to enable our staff to participate in the Yuletide festivities with their families, it does not preclude anybody particularly the press from having access to the secretariat to conduct their legitimate business.
“Moreover, Mr. Emmanuel Okoronkwo is not in the security department of the party and has no business whatsoever regarding the regulation of movements into the complex. He acted on his own, in violation of democratic and all-inclusive principles for which the PDP is known and outside the code of conduct guiding activities of staff at the PDP National Secretariat”, Ologunagba stated.
He added that the party is well-known for its commitment to supporting and defending the constitutional right to press freedom.
“The NWC, therefore assures all that the issue will be handled in strict compliance with the party’s established Code of Conduct guiding activities of staff at the PDP national secretariat to serve as a deterrent against such condemnable act which has no place whatsoever in the character and comportment of the PDP as a political Party.
“The PDP regrets the incident and assures of its unalloyed respect for the Press, particularly members of the PDP Press Corps as we continue as partners in progress for accountability, probity and sustenance of democracy in Nigeria”, he concluded.
