The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has
attributed the escalation of the recent crisis in the National
Assembly to the circulation of fake news, especially in the Social
Media.
The Minister stated this in Abuja on Tuesday when he paid a courtesy
visit to the headquarters of Blueprint Newspapers, in furtherance of
the Federal Government’s campaign against fake news, which was
launched 11 July 2018.
“When we launched the campaign, we did not envisage the kind of event
that occurred at the National Assembly last week, specifically Aug. 7
– Less than one month after the launch. That event, during which the
National Assembly was barricaded, is a classic example of how fake
news can aggravate conflicts. In fact, it was driven all the way by
fake news
“A serving Senator led the fake news onslaught, claiming that only
APC members were being allowed into the chambers as a ploy to impeach
the Senate President while PDP members were barred – FAKE NEWS! No APC
members was in the chambers at the time!” he said.
Mohammed said but for the timely intervention of the Acting
President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the situation could have deteriorated
and brought great opprobrium on the country.
He said that in the aftermath of the crisis, news that 21 billion
Naira and assorted weapons have been found in the residence of the
sacked Director-General of the DSS also turned out to be fake.
The Minister said fake news remains a clear and present danger to the
nation’s unity and democracy, and indeed to the very survival of the
country, adding that it cannot and must not be treated with levity.
He admonished Nigerians to always check the source of any news item
before sharing it, saying”Don’t share whatever you can’t vouch for.”
Alhaji Mohammed stressed the need for the media to take the lead in
the campaign against the phenomenon of fake news which, he said, has
the capacity to erode the credibility of the media.
He said the visit to the corporate headquarters of the Blueprint was
to enlist the newspaper’s support for the campaign against fake news
as well as to thank the news medium for not allowing its platform to
be used to spread fake news.