The Federal Government on Friday denied sponsoring bills purportedly meant to stifle the press and regulate social media.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, disclosed this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
According to him, the bills concerning the Nigerian Press Council and the National Broadcasting Commission were private member bills sponsored by a lawmaker in the National Assembly.
“First, let me say how disappointed I am that those who have been berating me on these bills have been doing so on a false premise that the Federal Government had sponsored bills to stifle the press.
“This is a classic case of misinformation because the Federal Government did not sponsor any bill to gag the press.
“It baffles me that those who rushed to the media to slam the government didn’t even try to verify the facts,’’ he said.
The minister further stated that the National Assembly member who sponsored the bills had done nothing wrong. He said the legislator was only doing what he was elected to do.
“I insist that the bills were not sponsored by the Federal Government.
“I was invited, as the Minister of Information and Culture, to make my contributions, just like many other stakeholders at the public hearing.
“It was an opportunity for stakeholders to make their input into the bills.
“I attended and made my contributions,’’ he added.
Mohammed said those falsely accusing the Federal Government and misinforming the public on the bills had a chance to make their contributions during the public hearing.
He said rather than show up at the National Assembly’s sponsored public hearing on the bills, they chose to play to the gallery.