Precious Eze: ‘Your Promise To Uphold Press Freedom Is Hollow’ – Atiku Calls Out Tinubu

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has accused the government of President Bola Tinubu of failure to uphold press freedom and respect public opinion.

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said in a personally signed message released on Tuesday via his account on the X platform, that though Tinubu promised to uphold press freedom and respect public opinion, the reality shows otherwise.

Citing the example of a journalist, Precious Eze, who was whisked away by security operatives from his home in Gbagada, Lagos State without any explanation, Atiku said the actions of state agencies do not match the promise of President Tinubu.

He stated that regardless of what Eze might have done, friends, family and Nigerians deserve to know his whereabouts.

The former Vice President stressed the need to respect freedom of speech and allow newsmen to do their jobs freely without any form of harassment from security operatives.

In his words, “Only yesterday, this administration assured that it will always uphold press freedom and respect public opinions. But those words are hollow and do not match with the actions of state agencies.

“Just last week, Precious Eze was abducted by security agents in his Gbagada home in Lagos. There was no word to explain his whereabouts and why he was being detained until Nigerians started to raise an alert about the plight of Precious.

“Notwithstanding what the young man may have done, the agencies of the state must let his family, friends, and indeed Nigerians know about his whereabouts.

“This aligns with the spirit of democracy, freedom of speech and respect for journalists to do their jobs of holding government to account without jackboot intimidation. -AA”