The national leadership of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) has denied reports that it walked out on Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture during a meeting on the proposed social media regulation bill.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, while addressing a cross-section of journalists in Abuja at the weekend had claimed journalists walked out on the Minister during a meeting on the bill .

Speaking in defence of bill, Shehu had said “There is a need to protect vulnerable members of the society. There is a need to protect those in the minority, whether tribal or religious, in our own country. So, it makes sense that you, as media stakeholders, come around the Minister of Information and Culture and formulate the kind of regulation you want so that it is not a top bottom approach, so that government will not be accused of imposing a regulatory mechanism on the media”.

“The minister is saying come, sit down with me and let us talk about it. And I was told that the day he called on members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, they walked out on him. If that report is true, I think it is very unfortunate” Shehu had said.

However speaking with Daily Independent, Chris Isiguzo, national president of the NUJ said nothing of such happened.
“NUJ leadership walked out on the Minister. I am not aware of that. Nothing like that happened” he said.

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