Pantami Denies Trending Fake News

Pantami Denies Trending Fake News

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami has distanced himself from the trending fake news that has been erroneously credited to him.

In a statement signed by the Minister’s Spokesperson, Mrs. Uwa Suleiman, the Minister distanced himself from the news, describing it as fake.

According to the statement: The attention of the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami has been drawn to a misleading message purportedly authored by him, currently trending on social media. The fake news is circulating a message which implies that all devices are now connected to the Ministry’s systems and that effective tomorrow, it will commence the recording of phone calls and the monitoring of all social media platforms and fora. The malicious message also further discourages citizens from sharing any messages or videos with political or religious content as it is now officially a crime and could even lead to arrest.

The office of the Minister, initially ignored the message which has been in the public domain for some time, so as not to give undue attention to the originators but its spread, the efforts of well-meaning Nigerians to get clarity and the need to ensure that all Nigerians are properly informed, has necessitated this disclaimer/public awareness. We are at a point in our Nation’s history where the focus is on digitalizing the Nigerian Economy for the greater good of all, and divisive messages such as these are mere distractions. It is on record that Pantami, as the then Director General of NITDA, initiated and passed the Nigerian Data Protection Regulation (NDPR January 25th 2019) which solely exists to protect the privacy rights of every individual.

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