Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, has tasked journalists across the country to report activities of the National Assembly as it happens and not based on propaganda.
Saraki made this statement while addressing Senate Press Corps in Abuja on the occasion of the 2017 World Press Freedom Day.
“Your stories play a major role in the discharge of our responsibility. I urge you to go beyond propaganda and report us correctly,” Saraki said.
Saraki also said the Senate received a total number of 196 nominees for various appointments, but confirmed 185 in less than two years.
He noted that the National Assembly under his leadership had passed motions that impacted on well-being of the nation, adding that such was done with private sector participation in the economy.
According to him, the upper legislative chamber has investigated fraudulent cases through its oversight functions, noting that the exercise has so far yielded better results.
“As we continue to pass motions, we have investigated some fraudulent cases as an institution and have prevented so much for the betterment of the country,” he maintained.
TheNewsGuru.com reports that every year, 3rd of May is a date which celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom; to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession.
World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 following a Recommendation adopted at the twenty-sixth session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 1991. This in turn was a response to a call by African journalists who in 1991 produced the landmark Windhoek Declaration on media pluralism and independence