Press Bills: I’ll not be party to any press gagging bill – Speaker Gbajabiamila

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Monday, said he would not be a party to any bill that sought to gag media practitioners.

The Speaker made the assertion at an award ceremony tagged “Recognising Good Governance and Legislative Excellence in the Face of Adversity,” in Abuja.

Gbajabiamila was reacting to calls by some stakeholders to expunge the Press Council Bill, which sought to regulate activities of media practitioners.

“I will not be part of any bill that will seek to gag the press, no bill will come to the floor of the house that seeks to gag the press because the press is supposed to be the voice of the people.

“However, there is press freedom and there is freedom of expression; it is important for Nigerians to listen to one another and understand each other so that we can make progress as a nation.

“There is nowhere in the world where freedom of expression is absolute, freedom of expression is limited to the extent that it does not affect another person’s freedom.

“That is made abundantly clear in the Constitution itself. If you go to section 45, it states the freedom of expression you have is limited for the sake of security, it is written in black and white,” NAN quoted him as saying.