The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami SAN says that the Muhammadu Buhari administration has nothing against being criticised.
However, he said that such criticisms must be constructive and objective.
The minister also urged journalists and media houses in the country to avoid fake news and sensationalism in the reportage of national issues.
Malami spoke Thursday at the 2021 national conference of the National Association of Judiciary Correspondents (NAJUC), Abuja chapter.
The minister, who was represented by his Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Dr. Umar Gwandu, said that President Buhari regards free speech and constructive criticism as essential ingredients of good governance.
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Malami explained that it was the job of the press to produce accurate and objective reports to inform and educate Nigerians about the goings-on in society.
According to him, the Buhari-led Federal Government will continue to ensure journalists have access to information and guarantee press freedom.
“This can be seen from the disappearance of incessant harassment, intimidation, molestation, arrests and prosecution of media professionals as used to be the practice in the past regimes.
“This fact is attested to by the 2020 report of the Committee to Protect Journalists that Nigeria is no longer in the list of countries with impunity for crimes against journalists.
“The report maintained that Nigeria is the only country in the globe that get off the index from 2019,” Malami noted.