The alleged fisticuff raging between the Commissioner of Information, Mr Patrick Ukah and his subordinate, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Delta State governor, Mr Charles Ehiedu Aniagwu last week assumed a new dimension.
After several purported failed attempts to unseat Ukah, the CPS has allegedly picked holes with the Information Commissioner over the drawn time-table to carry journalists in phases especially those in the state capital to have a turn to cover the inspection/commissioning of projects and a town hall meeting organize at the instance of the governor to feel the pulse of the electorate across the 25 local government areas of the state.
The process which was very smooth in six council areas of Isoko South and North, Sapele, Ethiope West, Aniocha South and North local government areas was allegedly obstructed by Aniagwu, who injected journalists especially from the national dailies who have taken their turn into the already planned programme to destabilize Ukah.
It was learnt that the reasons the CPS mobilized the reporters to form his new team aside the Press Crew of Government House, was based on projecting his boss, the governor through the national dailies but was done in acrimony and not the mushroom community newspapers allegedly paraded by Ukah.
The of the Chief Press Secretary, Hard Reporters reliably learnt was borne out of the defeat he suffered in the hands of his boss (Ukah) at the just concluded Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Delta State Council election after his anointed candidate, Sir Comrade Fidelis Egugbo, The Pointer Newspaper Correspondent covering Government House lost to Ukah’s candidate, Comrade Michael Ikeogwu, The Pointer Newspaper Correspondent covering Warri, in a keenly contested election.
Those Aniagwu recycled into his camp to make Ukah look as an untrained media manager in the eyes of Okowa, include: Paul Osuyi of the Sun Newspaper, Alphunsus Agborh of the Nigerian Tribune, Okunbowa Ewere of The Nation Newspaper, Omo Julius of ThisDay Newspaper, Hendrix of The Guardian Newspaper, Felix Igbekoyi of Independent Newspaper and Dominic Adewole of the New Telegraph.
It would be recalled that Aniagwu, also allegedly rattled Ukah, during their principal’s first year anniversary where he hijacked the even from the ministry of Information and singly handled by him even as it was reliably gathered that the CPS rubbished the Commissioner at the residence of their boss.
