Vice President Kashim Shettima said on Tuesday it is “impossible to have a successful dictator in Nigeria,” promising that the administration of President Bola Tinubu “respects, and will continue to protect” the right to freedom of expression in the country.
Shettima made the declaration at the 2025 Annual Conference and General Meeting of the International Press Institute Nigeria, where he insisted that no administration could successfully repress the Nigerian media.
“I stand before you today not as a wary politician, but as a friend—one who acknowledges your indispensable role and assures you that this administration respects, and will continue to protect your right to freedom of expression,” he said.
The vice president noted that journalists must operate without harassment or intimidation, adding that the government bears the duty to create an environment where truth thrives and where media work is “protected, rather than policed.”
“We owe journalists a space of practice devoid of harassment or fear. That much is non-negotiable,” he said. “It is utterly impossible to have a successful dictator in Nigeria. Never in our history has any person or government succeeded in suppressing the media permanently.”
Shettima, who chaired the event, argued that the country’s biggest threat was not mainstream journalism but “anarchists on social media.”
Describing the tension between government and the press as a “cat and mouse relationship,” he maintained they remain stronger as partners than adversaries.
He commended Nigerian journalists for resisting disinformation and refusing to be used as tools of propaganda.
“You have stood firmly against disinformation and refused to surrender your pens to falsehood or foreign puppeteers. This honourable stance sets you apart,” he said.
Earlier, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to sustaining press freedom.
He said security agencies had been given strict protocols for engaging journalists in conflict zones and during civil protests.
“Our security agencies now operate under stricter guidelines to respect the rights of journalists, especially in conflict areas and during demonstrations,” Idris said.
He added that regulatory bodies continued to guarantee an enabling environment for all licensed media organisations to thrive.
In his remarks, IPI Nigeria President, Musikilu Mojeed, urged the Federal Government to compel state governments, security agencies, and other actors to end the repression of journalists nationwide and strengthen protective structures for the media.
The International Press Institute Nigeria is the local chapter of the global IPI network, made up of senior editors, media executives and communication leaders dedicated to defending press freedom and improving journalism standards.
This year’s conference has the the theme, “Addressing Media Repression and Safeguarding Democratic Accountability in Nigeria,” in light of documented attacks on journalists, media censorship, and intimidation by state actors, despite constitutional guarantees of press freedom.
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