Lai Mohammed Begs Media, ‘Stop Mocking Buhari’s Anti-Graft War’

Information Minister, Alh. Lai Mohammed has appealed to journalists and media organisations to stop making mockery of the anti-corruption war of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Speaking on Monday at the 68th General Assembly of the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), Mohammed decried alleged exaggeration of errors made on government’s part in the fight against corruption.

The minister said news headlines such as “Buhari’s Anti-Corruption War Is Failing” and “Buhari’s Government Losing Anti-Corruption War” only weaken government’s effort to quell corruption.

“Without mincing words, let me use this platform to appeal directly to the media in general to join this Administration in facing down the problem of corruption,” Mohammed said at the event which held in Abuja.

“As we have said times without number, this fight must not be seen as Buhari’s fight. It must not be seen as the Federal Government’s fight. It is our fight. If we fail to win by defeating corruption, it will simply kill us as a nation.

“This appeal to the media to join us in the fight against corruption is borne out of the fact that the Fourth Estate of the Realm cannot afford to sit on the fence, as far as this fight is concerned.

“We are not saying the media should not criticize us over our strategy for the fight, but they should stop mocking us. In recent times, it is not unusual to read such headlines as ”Buhari’s Government Losing Anti-Corruption War”, ”Buhari’s Anti-Corruption War is Failing”, ”Arewa Youths Knock President Buhari Over Failing Anti-corruption War”. This is sheer mockery, not reporting! And this war is not Buhari’s war. It is our war,” the minister said.