Ajayi has expressed concern over the Anti-Media Bill proposed by All
Progressives Congress’s Senator, Bala Ibn Na’allah.
In a statement on Sunday signed by Garba Deen Muhamma, the Guild said, The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) demands, unconditionally, that the Senate of the Federal
Decree 4 that was used against the press between 1984 and 1985 that
President Mohammadu Buhari was military Head of State and the Sedition
Law that the British Colonial Masters used against our fathers, who
fought for the independence of Nigeria.The Attorney-General, who declared that holders of public offices must
be answerable to the people at all times, added that; “those of us
holding public offices must be mindful of the temptation of seeing
ourselves as being above the people. We are not God that cannot be
questioned. In fact, nothing should be private about us that the
public must not know.”
In a statement issued in Ado-Ekiti on Sunday, Owoseni Ajayi, who said
the Ekiti State government was against the bill in its entirety, noted
“that bill proposed by Senator Bala Ibn Na’allah is not
different from Buhari’s Protection Against False Accusations Decree 4
of 1984, which was considered as the most repressive press law ever
enacted in Nigeria.”
He said Nigerians were not unmindful of the fact that the APC rode to
power on the back of free press and credible electoral process that
was allowed by the Peoples Democratic Government of Dr Goodluck
Jonathan, adding that; “the APC as a party must be ready to
accommodate even more than the media attacks it gave PDP when it was
in the opposition.”
The Commissioner for Justice said; “Isn’t it funny that the same
media, especially the social media that the APC used against the PDP
has now become an enemy that the APC led federal government is
desperate to suppress? What are they afraid of?
“It is painful that anyone could bring such bill to the Senate, and
even more painful that the bill was allowed to pass through the first
reading.
“However, let those seeing the bill as a means of protecting
themselves realise that they won’t be in power forever. They should
therefore refrain themselves from acts capable of taking Nigeria back
to those years of dictatorship that journalists were jailed
indiscriminately and media houses shut for years. They should remember
Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor of The Guardian newspapers.
“Most importantly, the Senate should be mindful of the fact that the
offences the proposed bill seeks to criminalise already exist under
Nigerian laws, including those on treason, defamation and libel.
“Lastly, let those supporting the obnoxious bill know that under a
democratic government, there cannot be criminal libel or defamation.
There can also not be a return of Decree 4 of 1984 and the Sedition
Law of the Colonial days.”
