Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, has said that it is an ‘abuse of press freedom’ to address President Muhammadu Buhari by his military title in a democratic setting.
Mohammed stated this on Tuesday when members of the International Press Institute (IPI), Nigeria chapter, paid a courtesy call on him at his office in Abuja.
The minister was reacting to the classification of Nigeria as a country that is antagonistic to journalists in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index. The country had ranked 120 out of the 180 countries graded.
Reporters Without Borders, which publishes the World Press Freedom Index annually, had stated “Nigeria is now one of West Africa’s most dangerous and difficult countries for journalists, who are often spied on, attacked, arbitrarily arrested or even killed.”
The IPI Nigeria President, Muskilu Mojeed, had during the visit cited Nigeria’s ranking on the index as an example of the country’s low rating in press freedom.
But Mohammed rejected the rating and claimed that the Nigerian media remains the most vibrant and freest in the world.
Information Minister, Lai Mohammed receives executive members of the Nigerian chapter of the International Press Institute (IPI).
He referred to the decision of a national daily to address President Buhari by his military title as evidence that the current government is free with the media.
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