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Buhari Has Never Gagged The Media – Presidency
The presidency has said the federal government will not run roughshod on the media or act in a type of way that stampedes the activities of the media.
Speaking when he featured on a programme on Arise Television, on Monday, Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, said the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari will never clamp down on the media.
Several times, Buhari administration has been accused of muzzling the media, especially those who are critical of his government, raising questions about his commitment to ensuring freedom of the press.
When asked if the recently allegations of planned campaign of calumny against Buhari was an attempt to provide plausible reason for an imminent clamp down on the media, Adesina replied that the federal government has no intention of doing that.
“This government never clamps down on the media, it has never done and will never do. I can promise you that,” he said.
“This government will never tamper with the freedom of the press”
Adesina said the alarm raised was not a false one, adding that it had concrete evidence to substantiate its claim that there schemes are in the offing to tarnish the reputation of the president.
“There wouldn’t have been an alarm if there was no evidence and you know that that is the second alarm in about five, six weeks.
“We have impeccable evidence that that the plot was afoot. When we raised the first evidence in December, maybe it scared them a bit, they retreated but as at last week, they came back and were about launching and when we had the unimpeachable evidence again that it was going to be done up to the point of those, they had interviews; what those ones have said, documents to unleash, we just had to warn the public else they be hoodwinked into believing falsehood.
“You know that government has the capacity to ferret out all these things so when you speak of certain things, it’s because you already have the evidence.”
He said the presidency cannot reveal its sources and that the alleged traducers are outside the government because they are not fifth columnists.
He, however, said by the time the alleged detractors start their “hatchet jobs”, Nigerians would know their identities.
“They can’t be fifth columnists because fifth columnists are inside and we didn’t say they are inside,” he said.
“They are not inside the government, and I am sure the alarm we raised, we did not describe them as the fifth columnists.
“Would I want to mention names? No. You never reveal your sources at the risk of anything. It will be quite unprofessional to name them now but by the time they go ahead and publish those hatchet jobs, readers can then discern. So, they will reveal themselves.”
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