Lagos Speaker urges NUJ to sanction perpetrators of fake news

The Speaker, Lagos House of Assembly, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, has advised the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Lagos State Council, to sanction perpetrators of fake news.

Obasa gave the advice when the executive members of the state council of NUJ paid him a courtesy call on Tuesday.

The Speaker stressed the need for a lasting solution to the problem of fake news dissemination in the country.

“I want to suggest sanctions against perpetrators of fake news to serve as a deterrent to others.

“This is because journalists have a role to play in sustaining the achievements of the founders of the great profession,” he said.

Obasa urged the union to come up with a structure that would surmount the challenges of fake news.

The Speaker noted that some social media platforms were being wrongly used to peddle fake news.

Obasa assured the journalists that the Assembly would partner NUJ on training and other areas to improve professionalism.

He pledged legislative processes that would enhance journalism profession.

The Chairman of NUJ Lagos Council, Mr Adeleye Ajayi, gave an assurance of looking into the issues raised wholistically, with a view to finding lasting solutions to the peddling of fake news.

Ajayi noted that the leadership of the union is making efforts to restore sanity to the profession.

He also appealed that the legislature should move for an extension of retirement age of journalists to 65 years in line with what was obtainable in academic circle.

Ajayi commended the Speaker for the oversight functions of the Assembly and for quick passage of the Lagos State Appropriation Bill.

He lauded the giant strides of the Speaker in presiding over an Assembly that catered for the interests of more than 20 million residents of the state.