Gbajabiamila Speaks On Press Gagging Bill

• The Speaker of the House of Reps, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has spoken about the bill that seeks to gag media practitioners.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has disassociated himself from any bill that seeks to gag media practitioners.

Gbajabiamila made this known while speaking at an award ceremony tagged “Recognising Good Governance and Legislative Excellence in the Face of Adversity,” in Abuja on Monday.

The Speaker, who was reacting to calls by some stakeholders to expunge the Press Council Bill which seeks to regulate activities of media practitioners in Nigeria, vowed not to be part of any bill that will seek to gag the press.

Gbajabiamila said, “I will not be part of any bill that will seek to gag the press, no bill will come to the floor of the house that seeks to gag the press because the press is supposed to be the voice of the people.

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“However, there is press freedom and there is freedom of expression; it is important for Nigerians to listen to one another and understand each other so that we can make progress as a nation.

“There is nowhere in the world where freedom of expression is absolute, freedom of expression is limited to the extent that it does not affect another person’s freedom.

“That is made abundantly clear in the Constitution itself. If you go to section 45, it states the freedom of expression you have is limited for the sake of security, it is written in black and white,” the Speaker stated.

Gbajabiamila further noted that he had directed proponent of the Press Council Bill “to engage stakeholders and resolve grey areas, but the report he got was that they wanted the bill thrown out completely”.

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