Media must hold govt accountable, any attempt to gag journalists will fail – Reuben Abati

Date:

Veteran journalist and former presidential spokesman Reuben Abati has said the media is duty-bound to hold the government accountable, emphasizing that it is “a duty which is guided by law and every attempt to gag journalists will not succeed.”

Speaking in the latest episode of the Interviewing The Interviewer series hosted by his wife, an ace broadcaster, Kikelomo Atanda-Owo, Abati noted that “the character of the Nigerian media has been a crusading media, defending the rights of the people, fighting for the people.”

He said it reached a turning point in 1992 when the Babangida administration introduced the deregulation of the broadcast medium, which saw an explosion in the number of radio and television stations in the country, adding that the media has been very consistent, as witnessed during the June 12 struggle.

“The duty of the journalist is to call the people in power to order and that’s guaranteed under Section 22 of the 1999 constitution, our job is to hold them accountable as further enshrined under section 39 of the 1999 constitution and we’re also guided by ethics as defined by the Nigerian Press Organisation to say we have to be objective, fair, accurate and act in public interest,” Abati said.

He said history has shown that “everyone who has tried to gag or kill journalists have invariably failed and that’s why journalists must be courageous and its why i encourage journalists to try to be knowledgeable.”

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Share post:

[tds_leads title_text="Subscribe" input_placeholder="Email address" btn_horiz_align="content-horiz-center" pp_checkbox="yes" pp_msg="SSd2ZSUyMHJlYWQlMjBhbmQlMjBhY2NlcHQlMjB0aGUlMjAlM0NhJTIwaHJlZiUzRCUyMiUyMyUyMiUzRVByaXZhY3klMjBQb2xpY3klM0MlMkZhJTNFLg==" f_title_font_family="653" f_title_font_size="eyJhbGwiOiIyNCIsInBvcnRyYWl0IjoiMjAiLCJsYW5kc2NhcGUiOiIyMiJ9" f_title_font_line_height="1" f_title_font_weight="700" f_title_font_spacing="-1" msg_composer="success" display="column" gap="10" input_padd="eyJhbGwiOiIxNXB4IDEwcHgiLCJsYW5kc2NhcGUiOiIxMnB4IDhweCIsInBvcnRyYWl0IjoiMTBweCA2cHgifQ==" input_border="1" btn_text="I want in" btn_tdicon="tdc-font-tdmp tdc-font-tdmp-arrow-right" btn_icon_size="eyJhbGwiOiIxOSIsImxhbmRzY2FwZSI6IjE3IiwicG9ydHJhaXQiOiIxNSJ9" btn_icon_space="eyJhbGwiOiI1IiwicG9ydHJhaXQiOiIzIn0=" btn_radius="3" input_radius="3" f_msg_font_family="653" f_msg_font_size="eyJhbGwiOiIxMyIsInBvcnRyYWl0IjoiMTIifQ==" f_msg_font_weight="600" f_msg_font_line_height="1.4" f_input_font_family="653" f_input_font_size="eyJhbGwiOiIxNCIsImxhbmRzY2FwZSI6IjEzIiwicG9ydHJhaXQiOiIxMiJ9" f_input_font_line_height="1.2" f_btn_font_family="653" f_input_font_weight="500" f_btn_font_size="eyJhbGwiOiIxMyIsImxhbmRzY2FwZSI6IjEyIiwicG9ydHJhaXQiOiIxMSJ9" f_btn_font_line_height="1.2" f_btn_font_weight="700" f_pp_font_family="653" f_pp_font_size="eyJhbGwiOiIxMyIsImxhbmRzY2FwZSI6IjEyIiwicG9ydHJhaXQiOiIxMSJ9" f_pp_font_line_height="1.2" pp_check_color="#000000" pp_check_color_a="#ec3535" pp_check_color_a_h="#c11f1f" f_btn_font_transform="uppercase" tdc_css="eyJhbGwiOnsibWFyZ2luLWJvdHRvbSI6IjQwIiwiZGlzcGxheSI6IiJ9LCJsYW5kc2NhcGUiOnsibWFyZ2luLWJvdHRvbSI6IjM1IiwiZGlzcGxheSI6IiJ9LCJsYW5kc2NhcGVfbWF4X3dpZHRoIjoxMTQwLCJsYW5kc2NhcGVfbWluX3dpZHRoIjoxMDE5LCJwb3J0cmFpdCI6eyJtYXJnaW4tYm90dG9tIjoiMzAiLCJkaXNwbGF5IjoiIn0sInBvcnRyYWl0X21heF93aWR0aCI6MTAxOCwicG9ydHJhaXRfbWluX3dpZHRoIjo3Njh9" msg_succ_radius="2" btn_bg="#ec3535" btn_bg_h="#c11f1f" title_space="eyJwb3J0cmFpdCI6IjEyIiwibGFuZHNjYXBlIjoiMTQiLCJhbGwiOiIxOCJ9" msg_space="eyJsYW5kc2NhcGUiOiIwIDAgMTJweCJ9" btn_padd="eyJsYW5kc2NhcGUiOiIxMiIsInBvcnRyYWl0IjoiMTBweCJ9" msg_padd="eyJwb3J0cmFpdCI6IjZweCAxMHB4In0="]
spot_imgspot_img

SAT Home Teachers Ld

spot_imgspot_img

Popular

More like this
Related

Tinubu’s Spokesman, Ajuri Quits Over medical situation

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity,...

Invest in agriculture to curb hunger, insecurity – Peter Obi to African countries

The Labour Party presidential candidate in Nigeria’s 2023 general...

Tinubu didn’t extend IG’s tenure – Police

The Nigeria Police announced on Friday that President Bola...

Selena Gomez joins Bloomberg’s billionaire list

American pop star, Selena Gomez is now a billionaire,...