Dogara pointed out that the perceived crisis that erupted when executive accused NASS of padding the 2016 budget was a ruse by the executive, which according to him used the media to report such thing.
Represented by the Chief Whip, Hon. Garba Alhassan Doguwa , on the occasion of a colloquium organised by Kaduna State council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Speaker noted that 75 percent of survival of democracy is in the hands of the media.
The theme of the colloquium was titled,”2015 polls: Reminiscence, Lessons, Challenges and Projections.”
Hon. Dogara who described feud between the NASS and the executive as a democratic interaction spoke in parable to buttress his point.
He said lawmakers are like trustees roasting chicken on behalf of blind men, and for the blind men to trust those roasting the chicken, they must make constant noise to assure the blind men that their chicken have not landed in the mouths of those that roasted it.
“Media must not be used, there is nothing like budget padding, it is not in our lexicon, it is a clear case of misinformation.
“NASS went into screening of some nominees by the executive, but before we know it, the media said there is a faceoff between lawmakers and the executive, it is interaction and not a face off.
“The interaction is to tell the people that we are not eating their chicken, and it is a normal noise which shows that democracy is working.
“I therefore call media practitioners to avoid yellow journalism because it leads to a confused society.
“Do your job in a way that what you write is factual and reality of our time because this colloquium creates opportunity for us to sort out our challenges before 2019 election.
“Elected leaders will learn from this platform because media, like the executive, legislature and the judiciary, is very important to our democracy.
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