By Correspondent in Minna
Former Publicity Secretary the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Niger state, Mr. Jonathan Tsado Vatsa, has taken a swipe on the National Assembly over what he described as, ‘faceless media bill’ that will only serve vested interests in government
Vatsa in a statement in Minna, said “The bill is targeted at not only caging the media but against the collective interest of the Nigerian maaaes, ahead of the 2023 general elections”.
He said instead of serving the interest of Nigerians, the National Assembly was serving the interest of few in the corridors of power against their constitutional role of making laws that would protect the lives and properties of citizens.
Vatsa, a former Commissioner for Information,in reactoin to the media bill before the red chamber of the National Assembly, described those behind the media bill as ‘living in the past’ “because Nigerians are more sophisticated in their reasoning than before.”
Vatsa,who called on those behind the bill to get themselves busy with constitutional responsibilities, expressed optimism that no amount of antics or maneuvering could stop Nigerians from separating the good from the bad in 2023.
“Any attempt to gag the media from speaking the truth of what is happening in the build up to 2023 general elections will be an effort in futility. This unpopular media bill will die a natural death the same way that the unpopular hate speech bill died.
He recalled then as the Publicity Secretary of the APC in Niger state in 2014, Vatsa said he knew the level of cooperation and supports he enjoyed from the media and wondered why the present government would champion the cause against the same instrument,
“The media stood firm for us and I can testify to that so, why do we now want to cage the same media? Nigerians are wiser than they were before 2015, they can separate the good from the bad. So with the media or without the media, everybody will answer his or her father’s name in 2023.
The APC Chieftain also argued that, “Nigerians do not need the media to tell them that there is hunger and high level poverty in the country. That the price of food stuff and every other thing have gone higher above the reach of the common man”.
Vatsa who is the Coordinator, Public Affairs to Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger state,however, advised those behind the media bill to “quietly withdraw it and throw it into the same waste bean where the hate speech bill is so that they will not incur the wrath of already depressed Nigerians.”
