As delegates to the national conference resumed plenary on Tuesday to continue deliberation on the draft rules that will guide proceedings, the issue of media coverage surfaced.
A delegate, Festus Okoye, picked holes in Order 9 (7) of the national conference procedure rules, saying it amounts to gagging the media.
The controversial rule states, “The Conference may grant approval to the representative of any media to attend the sitting of the Conference provided that if the media publishes a report of the proceedings which the Conference considers unfair, offensive and not a true reflection of what transpired, such permission may be revoked.”
But, many delegates opposed this rule, insisting that journalists accredited to cover the conference should be allowed to discharge their duties without molestation.
Consequently, Order 9 (7) was deleted from the rules.
The delegates are currently reviewing the draft rules that will guide proceedings in the next three months that the conference is supposed to last.
At the end of the review, the rules would be adopted for the real business to commence.
