Speaker stresses role of digital influencers, reiterates commitment to FoI Act

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has reaffirmed the House’s committedness to upholding the Freedom of Information Act arsenic a captious instrumentality for transparency and accountability successful governance.
 
Speaking astatine the Speaker’s New Media Exchange 2025, Abbas emphasised the value of entree to accusation successful gathering a much participatory democracy, portion noting the House’s efforts to deepen nationalist information successful governance, beforehand inclusivity and beforehand the rights of marginalised communities.
 
The event, with the theme, ‘Smart Cities and Ethical Media: Navigating the Role of Policy successful National Development’, brought unneurotic policymakers, integer influencers and different stakeholders to sermon captious issues shaping Nigeria’s development.
 
Abbas noted that the House demonstrated its committedness to transparency done assorted initiatives, including live-streamed plenary and the yearly Open National Assembly Week, portion stressing the value of inclusivity successful democracy.
  
He noted the value of integer platforms successful modern governance, citing Nigeria’s 38.7 cardinal progressive societal media users and the important power of integer media connected nationalist sentiment and civic engagement. 
  
Emphasising the request for a concern betwixt the authorities and the integer assemblage to physique a much participatory democracy, the Speaker outlined the legislative docket of the 10th House of Representatives, which focused connected deepening nationalist information successful governance, promoting inclusivity and advancing the rights of marginalised communities.  
 
He hailed initiatives specified arsenic the Nigeria Start-Up Act and Nigeria Data Protection Act, which purpose to foster innovation and support integer rights.

While noting that the value of the collaboration was underscored by compelling data, the Speaker said Nigeria’s integer scenery expanded rapidly, with astir 38.7 cardinal progressive societal media users arsenic of 2025, representing 16.3 per cent of the nationalist colonisation and marking a 5.3 per cent summation from the erstwhile year.
 
“In a federation whose demographic creation is overwhelmingly youthful, and wherever integer platforms person go cardinal to accusation exchange, advocacy and civic engagement, it is some strategical and indispensable to forge this partnership.
 
“Platforms specified as Facebook and TikTok dominate usage, with 38.7 cardinal and 37.4 cardinal users, respectively, while YouTube, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) besides bid important following,” helium said.
  
Leading the influencers to speak, a erstwhile Director-General, Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Dr Joe Abah, noted that the hostility betwixt state of code and nationalist involvement subsisted for centuries, with galore philosophers applying their minds to trying to find a equilibrium betwixt the two.