President Bola Tinubu has reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to press freedom, while urging journalists to balance their constitutional rights with responsibility, accuracy and professionalism in their reportage.
He spoke on Thursday at the Maiden State House Media Dinner held at the State House, Abuja, an event organised for correspondents covering the presidency.
Apologising for the delay in convening such a gathering, President Tinubu attributed it to the demanding pace of government work, and commended journalists for their dedication to keeping Nigerians informed about his administration’s activities.
He described himself as “an Apostle of a free press,” saying he had defended and advocated for media rights throughout his public life and would continue to do so. However, he stressed that press freedom must be balanced with responsibility.
“While press freedom and free speech remain the bedrock of an open and democratic society, journalists and citizens must also not forget the imperative of balancing rights with responsibility and the duty you hold to society to report and inform with care and accuracy to facts and in a manner that ensures the society is not set on fire,” he said.
The President raised concerns about misinformation, disinformation, fake news and deepfakes, describing them as drawbacks of the social media age, and warned that media practitioners should not become “willing couriers of falsehoods or unverified information injurious to national security and the nation.”
Describing the relationship between the government and the press as one of partnership and rivalry, President Tinubu said the two institutions were bound by democracy to hold each other in check. The government must act. The media must watch. The government must explain. The media must question,” he said, adding that the arrangement guarantees “a certain level of tension” that is necessary for democracy.
Reflecting on his more than decades in public service, the President said he had become one of the most scrutinised politicians in Nigeria’s democratic history, citing conflicting headlines about his administration’s economic performance as an example of the need for deeper analysis over sensationalism.
“The media must choose fact over falsehood. The media must choose substance over sensation. The media must choose credibility over clickbait and the endless race for followers, likes, and viral outrage,” he said.
He noted that freedom of expression does not amount to freedom to defame, stressing that laws such as the Cybercrimes Act exist to protect citizens from malicious falsehoods and digital abuses, not to weaken press freedom.
The President reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to the constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression and press freedom under Section 22 and 39 of the Nigerian Constitution, as well as the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), which he said continues to promote transparency and citizen access to information.
On the economy, the President said reforms undertaken by his administration were yielding results, citing a stabilising economy, stronger public revenues, higher allocations to states, improved foreign reserves, renewed investment in oil and gas sector, and growth in the stock market.
On security, he said military operations, improved intelligence gathering and inter-agency collaboration had led to the neutralisation of thousands of criminal elements and terrorists, the rescue of numerous hostages, and the reclamation of communities previously under threat.
He described the media as one of the most important pillars of democracy and a critical partner in national development and called for deeper mutual respect and professionalism between government and the press.
“Let us replace needless hostility with constructive engagement. Let us replace sensationalism with professionalism. Let us replace the pursuit of outrage with the pursuit of truth,” he said, expressing hope that the dinner would become a cherished annual tradition.
