OPENING REMARKS BY THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND CULTURE, ALHAJI LAI MOHAMMED, AT THE 12TH EDITION OF THE ”PMB ADMINISTRATION SCORECARD SERIES (2015-2023)” IN ABUJA ON WEDNESDAY, DEC. 14TH 2022
I welcome you all to the 12th edition of the ‘PMB Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023)’, featuring the Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs. Since launching this series in October, we have hosted 11 Ministers from:
i) – Works and Housing
ii) – Transportation
iii) – Aviation
iv) – Interior
v) – Agriculture and Rural Development
vi) – Finance, Budget and National Planning
vii) – Water Resources
viii) – Environment
ix) – Mines and Steel Development
x) – Science, Technology and Innovation
xi) – And Power
- We launched the PMB Administration Scorecard Series in October to showcase and document the numerous achievements of the Buhari Administration.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, during one of our earlier sessions here, I spoke about the dangers posed to the 2023 elections by fake news and disinformation. I said the increasing resort to fake news and disinformation by some political actors and a section of the media constitutes a clear and present danger to the success of the elections, just like violence, insecurity, vote buying, attack on INEC facilities, etc.- In this regard, I want to acknowledge the announcement by Meta, the owners of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp, that it will take clearly-outlined steps to protect the integrity of the forthcoming elections. Specifically, Meta detailed the actions it plans to take to combat disinformation and to make political advertising more transparent. The company committed to these actions before, during and after the elections.
- This is commendable and it is in line with what we have always said, that the platform owners have a big role to play in checking the spread of fake news, disinformation and hate speech via their platforms. Meta has demonstrated a great sense of responsibility and we hope the company will live up to its promise. We also urge other platform owners like Google (owners of YouTube and others), ByteDance (owners of TikTok), Twitter and the Telegram Group Inc. (owners of Telegram messenger) to emulate Meta by taking positive steps to prevent the spread of fake news, disinformation and hate speech via their platforms ahead, during and after the 2023 elections.
- At this juncture, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to invite the Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs to make his presentation.
