Lagos says media to now critique bills before passage

The Lagos State government has promised to engage members of the media more as regards formulation of laws and policies in the state. This assertion was made on Monday in Alausa, Ikeja, by the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kehinde Bamigbetan, when he addressed members of the press at the commencement of the 2018 Ministerial Press Briefing.

According to Bamigbetan, this becomes imperative against the backdrop of agitations and protests generated in some quarters as a result of the recent Land Use Charge (LUC), amendment; which forced the state government to backtrack its decision by slashing the LUC by 50 percent.

The Commissioner said when bills go to the House, they’re usually available for circulation to journalists. He added that the journalists themselves needed to show more effort in tracking such bills, as a follow up mechanism.

“Moving forward, we will be giving journalists the opportunity to have a say when it comes to passage of bills into law. When bills go to the House, they’re available for circulation. Journalists should endeavour to show more effort in tracking these bills as follow up, and not wait till these bills are passed into law.

“We intend to give preference to three categories of journalists in this regard. The Lagos State Governor’s Office Correspondents (LAGOCO), beat correspondents and Judiciary correspondents.

We will invite them for discussion, an opportunity to air their views and share informed opinions on any proposed bill before such bills are passed into law. By so doing, we will be able to tackle any loose ends and avoid any misunderstanding that may arise in the public after the bill might have been passed,” Bamigbetan said.

On efforts being made by his ministry’s social media unit to attract followership and compete for space on social media, he said the state’s Facebook page account now has over 296,000 followers, making an increment of 14 percent from the initial 259,147 followers as at April 2017. He added that the ministry’s target this year is to attract two million followers.

Bamigbetan stressed the need for government to encourage social media practitioners to express themselves and to show them how responsible reportage should be done following media skills such as gate keeping, so as to churn out materials worthy of posting.

He added that, as a government, content was available at their disposal. This, he said, should be capitalised upon.

Responding to the fact that the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Ikeja branch, was still opposed to the amended Land Use Charge, LUC, he said it was the right of every Nigerian to seek redress. This, he said, was fundamental.

He said Lagosians were responding to the LUC positively. He added that banks were even under pressure to handle payments being made due to the traffic generated and also because of network issues. He urged the banks concerned to improve their network situation in order to accommodate the demands of payment.