Minister of Works David Umahi has denied snubbing journalists who honoured his ministry’s invitation for a press conference in Abuja.
The minister allegedly walked out on journalists during his turn to present the ministry’s scorecard after one year of President Bola Tinubu’s administration on Tuesday, May 28, 2024.
However, Umahi, while speaking with newsmen on Wednesday in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, after participating in activities marking Governor Francis Nwifuru’s one year in office, described the allegation as untrue.
The minister said he only wanted to appreciate selected media organisations for the coverage of his ministry’s activities.
Umahi said: “They all worked hard for us during President Bola Tinubu’s inauguration of projects in Lagos and I wanted to thank them profusely.
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“I wanted the appreciation to be surprising to the selected media houses but my media aide didn’t handle it properly.”
He said the event was fixed for 2 p.m. on May. 28 but his aide told him that those set of journalists were covering an inauguration.
The minister added: “We then shifted the event to 3 p.m. though my flight to Ebonyi for the governor’s inauguration of projects was also slated for the same time.
“My aide informed me that the event was set for 3:30 p.m. but when I got to the ministry’s hall, there was no single camera.
“The only camera on sight was from my ministry and I became very angry with the aide.”
Umahi said he demanded that the event be shifted to Monday, June 3, “because if it had been held, the surprise element would be defeated”.
He stated: “I will also be faced with a number of journalists that I couldn’t handle so my media aide did not handle it properly.
“Reports of shunning journalists, therefore, do not exist because I cannot invite and shun them at the same time.”
Umahi added that he would still offer appreciation to the media organisations he considered special to the ministry.
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