The Federal Government has denied monitoring or recording calls made by Nigerians.
It described as false the information being circulated on the social media to the effect that under a purported Ministry of Interior Regulation, all phone calls and social media posts made by the citizens were to be monitored and recorded.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated this in a statement today in Abuja.
He described the rumour as another example of disinformation that he said has permeated the media space, especially the social media.
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The minister said the intention of those behind the false news was to give the impression that the Federal Government was working to stifle freedom of speech, which is not the case.
Mohammed said, ”There is no regulation, old or new, from the Ministry of Interior or any federal government agency requiring the recording of all calls or the monitoring of Social Media platforms like WhatsApp, Twitter or Facebook.
“We are therefore using this medium to inform all Nigerians that what is being circulated in this regard is totally false and should be disregarded.
”We thank all Nigerians who have reached out to us in an effort to confirm the authenticity or otherwise of this information, which is now being widely circulated on the Social Media.
“This is the best way to ensure that the purveyors of false news do not dominate our media space.”
Despite the fierce denial, sources within the National Security Corridors insist that it is not going to be business as usual, as the development has come to stay.
A certain security code to determine whether a phone line has been tapped was used to demonstrate this allegation on selected lines. And the result was a shocking revelation.
According to an impeccable source who did not want to be mentioned, “no government will agree anywhere in the world that it ordered the monitoring of its own citizens’ phone lines. So I can understand why the response will be an outright denial.”