The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State has noted with dismay how the state earned yet another bad record with the recently released Openness Index Report by the Centre for Journalism, Innovation and Development (CJID), which ranked Imo as the most dangerous and hostile environment for journalists in Nigeria.
According to the publicity secretary of the party, Lancelot Obiakor,
“A report, entitled “State of Press Freedom in Nigeria: 2024 Subnational Report,” which was presented in Abuja on July 31, 2025, assessed press freedom across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The report revealed widespread repression, intimidation, and obstruction of journalistic work by state actors, with Imo taking the 37th position and scoring below average at 40.7 percent, the lowest rating in the entire country.
Furthermore, it measured indicators such as journalists’ access to information, incidents of harassment and intimidation, transparency of government institutions, and legal frameworks supporting or restricting media practice.
For us in Imo State, the report is another sad commentary on Gov. Hope Uzodimma’s cruel regime, characterized by high-handedness and abuse of power, which has only managed to set the state on the path of regression in all sectors of its economy.
It presents a sordid trend under the present administration, wherein a once upward-bound state that bore some hope now finds itself tethering ashamedly at the base of all good governance indicators, including accountability, transparency, responsiveness, effectiveness and efficiency, equity and inclusiveness, rule of law, control of corruption, and strategic vision.
For a stagnant state ravaged by insecurity and poverty, these records constantly remind Imo people of their pain in the hands of the rather clueless and mindlessly insensitive Uzodimma administration.
The government and its agents, by obstructing press freedom and keeping the activities and dealings of government out of public knowledge, only lay their failure, corruption, and depravity bare for the world to see.
The PDP in Imo State, as a responsible party, therefore urges the state government headed by Gov. Hope Uzodimma to show good faith and reverse this ugly trend.
The government should encourage press freedom by providing the environment, access, and necessary legal framework that will allow journalistic work to thrive”
