HURIDE asks Muhammed to resign over anti-media policies

A human rights and pro-democracy group, has called for the immediate resignation of the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Lai Muhammed for his consistent and undignified attempt to muscle the media in the country.

Human Rights, Liberty Access and Peace Defenders’ Foundation (HURIDE) in a press briefing in Abuja, yesterday said the garrulous Minister should throw in the towel due to his anti-media, and anti-people disposition, which are official policies iof the All Progressives Congress (APC) Government.

Addressing newsmen, the chairman, Board of Trustees ( BoT) of HURIDE, Dede Uzor A,Uzor, said the Minister has outlived his usefulness and has nothing to offer to Nigeria again except deceptive and chronic lies.

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Going by his recent utterances , Dede Uzor said, that Nigerrian youths are happy with this administration , was a clear indication that he was not in tune with the realities in the country.

He said imposing N3m fine on the private television stations in the country for showing the photo footage of the shooting of the defenceless youths at Lekki toll gate by people believed to be soldiers of the Nigerrian Army
was undemocratic and despotic.

The chairman said the fine and threat by Muhammed Buhari to regulate the social media were all deliberate and calculated attempt to muzzle the media from prying into the anti-people policies of this Government.

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Dede called on the Minister and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), to as a matter of urgency rescind the obnoxious fine placed on Channel television, AIT, and Arise television.

He said Muhammed’s insistence on regulating social media showed that the government increasingly becoming despotic and therefore paranoid about the media.

He said they apparently do not want people and the world to know their anti-democratuc tendencies.

“But it negates the constitution of the country to abridge the free speech.. It will never see the light of the day. We will mobilise democratic forces to pull down their antics when the time comes” Dede Uzor said.
He therefore advised the APC controlled Federal.

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Government to begin to offer good governance to the people of Nigeria, instead of the current mediocre, ethnic, religious governance.

He called on international media organisations, Nigerrian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), to not only condemn Federal Government’s despotic disposition, attempt to muscle the press and other inglorious activities of Muhammed.