S’West govs never approved clampdown on social media -Makinde

Oyo Governor, Seyi Makinde, has said South West governors never approved clampdown on social media as widely reported in the media at the end of a meeting held between leaders of the geo-political zone and a presidential delegation led by Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, in Lagos on Sunday.

He made the disclosure at the inauguration of an 11-member Judicial Panel of Inquiry for the investigation of violation of rights of citizens and residents of the state, following the #EndSARS protest. The panel is headed by a former Chief Judge of the state, Justice Badejoko Adeniji, and has Mrs. Olufolakemi Ogundele as secretary. Members of the panel also include the Special Adviser on Political Matters to Governor Makinde, Babs Oduyoye; as well as Prof John Akintayo.

The communique issued at the end of the meeting on Sunday read in part that governors and monarchs in the region, called on the Federal Government to ensure the regulation of the social media: “We recognise the damaging and negative impact of fake/false news and worry about its destructive and dangerous potency of fake news. We call on the Federal Government to use the instrumentality of existing laws and those regulations bench-marked from other countries to provide safeguards against the spread of fake news.”

But Makinde said at the inauguration of the panel yesterday: “I will also like to use this opportunity to address a recent media report, which erroneously stated that South West governors have voted in favour of a clampdown on social media.  Let me categorically state that as far as I know, there was no such communique from the South West governors that I am part of.

“Yes, I was in Lagos on Sunday, we did held a meeting but our agreement at the meeting was that, we already have an existing Cybercrime Act (Cybercrime Prohibition Prevention Act, 2015), so there was no need for any further duplicity in terms of a specific social media bill. So, should anyone choose to sponsor such, I should be categorically be counted out because the Cybercrime Act is extensive enough and cover any issue that any so-called Social Media Bill may seek to address.”