ABUJA FEBRUARY 7, 2017 – The Federal Government will not do anything to stifle press freedom, because it is keenly aware that a free press is vital to the success of any democracy, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said.
In a statement in released recently, the Minister said the federal government has nothing to do with the recent arrest of Mr. Dapo Olorunyomi, Publisher of the online newspaper Premium Times, and a reporter working for the paper, Ms. Evelyn Okakwu.
He said the whole issue of the journalists’ arrest is purely a private affair involving a citizen and a privately-owned newspaper, and wondered how that could now be construed as an attempt by the government to intimidate the press.
‘’We have said it before and we want to re-state it: The Federal Government has no immediate or long-term plan to stifle press freedom.
Even the Social Media, with its warts and all, will neither be regulated nor have its operations tampered with,’’ Alhaji Mohammed assured Nigerians.
