A pro-democracy and non-governmental body- Human Rights Writers Association of
Nigeria (HURIWA) has
condemned as outrageous and wicked, the report in a section of the online media
purportedly claiming that President Muhammadu Buhari has died.
The Rights group has asked politicians of all schools of thought
to stop being mean and wicked by masterminding the circulation of toxic stories
on the health condition of Nigeria's ailing President in the online and social
media but is opposed to any draconian measures to attack press freedom and
freedom of expression by any branch of the security forces as any tyrannical
anti- media freedom measures will in a comprehensive way hurt democracy and
constitutionalism in Nigeria.
Consequently, the Rights Group has resolved to petition both Mr.
Mark Zukkerberg the owner of Facebook social media platform, Larry Page, Sergey
Brin and Eric Schmidt of Google to demand that such fake news concerning the
health status of the president of Nigeria be struck off and never allowed to
circulate since such could spark off a national security challenge for Nigeria.
In a statement jointly endorsed by the National Coordinator Comrade
Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss. Zainab Yusuf,
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) applauded the spokesmen of president
Buhari for swiftly debunking the fake news on the purported passage of
Nigeria’s ailing president but called on President Buhari’s Media Minders to
always avail Nigerians with the weekly update on the recovery of president
Buhari.
The group said the ill-advised decision of the Presidency not to
periodically update Nigerians on the health status of Mr. President will create
room for all sorts of conspiracy theories and speculations from a number of
busybodies some of whom are not wishing Nigeria well.
HURIWA stated thus; "We
have brainstormed at the level of our Human Rights Community in the early hours
of Monday May
15th 2017, on the
unfortunate story that made waves in some online platforms over the weekend
which reported without any substantial confirmation from official quarters that
Mr. President has died in London. We condemn this wicked plot of those who do
not wish Nigeria well and we are satisfied with the rebuttal of this
mischievous falsehood peddled by these faceless detractors and we are calling
on them to have rethink and give constructive political opposition a chance to
thrive".
“We have authorized our secretariat to send out petitions to the
owners of Facebook and shareholders of Google to request that mechanisms are
put in place to effectively stop such fake stories from ever gaining access to
their platforms. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this attempt to sow
a seed of discord in Nigeria which may not even have emanated from tge
political opposition because even within the All Progressives Congress there
are factions engaged in fierce power tussle”.
Besides, the group said it was satisfied that President
Muhammadu Buhari appropriately handed over power to the Vice President
Professor Yemi Osinbsnjo to act in his capacity as Acting President during the
period of his medical vacation in compliance with section 145 of the
Nigerian constitution of 199 (as amended).
Specifically, section 145 (1) of the constitution states as
follows: “Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he
is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the
functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to
the contrary such functions shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting
President”.
"Finally,
we join other patriots to pray for the quickest recovery for the ailing
President Muhammadu Buhari ", says HURIWA.
No comments:
Post a Comment