{"id":184691,"date":"2025-10-30T10:21:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T09:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims"},"modified":"2025-10-30T11:24:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T10:24:38","slug":"kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims","title":{"rendered":"Kano Govt Dismisses Soyinka Centre&#8217;s Press Freedom Claims"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>The Kano State Government has dismissed a report by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), which accused the state of violating press freedom.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking at a press briefing in Kano, the Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Comrade Ibrahim Abdullahi Wayya, described the report as \u201cbaseless and unfounded,\u201d saying it lacked evidence or credibility.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe report has no foundation or justification whatsoever,\u201d Wayya said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Kano State Government respects the rights of journalists to express their opinions in accordance with the law and the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said the administration of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf welcomes constructive criticism supported by facts but will not tolerate deliberate falsehoods aimed at tarnishing the image of the government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe welcome any form of criticism built on truth and evidence,\u201d he stated, \u201cbut we will not condone fabrications designed to mislead the public or discredit the government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Commissioner added that the Abba Kabir Yusuf administration remains committed to promoting democracy and protecting journalists\u2019 rights through open communication channels and collaboration with civil society organizations.<\/p>\n<p>The Wole Soyinka Centre\u2019s report, titled \u201cShrinking Freedoms: 2024 Journalism and Civic Space Status Report,\u201d had listed Kano among the top three Nigerian states\u2014alongside Lagos and Abuja\u2014where incidents of press freedom violations were most reported.<\/p>\n<p>However, Wayya dismissed the findings, claiming the Centre lacked representation across Nigerian states, particularly in Kano, and relied on questionable sources.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis report was released with a hidden agenda,\u201d he alleged. \u201cThe Centre does not even have representatives in many states, including Kano, to verify what truly happens here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wayya further emphasized that Governor Yusuf\u2019s administration has received several national and international awards for its progressive policies and media-friendly approach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGovernor Abba Kabir Yusuf was honoured by Leadership newspaper as the \u2018Governor Advancing Education in Nigeria,\u2019\u201d he noted. \u201cHe was also named African Governor of the Year for Good Governance by the African Leadership Magazine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He cited the example of the nationwide protest against bad governance in 2024, where Yusuf was the only governor in the country who peacefully received protesters and engaged them in dialogue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen others resisted, Governor Yusuf welcomed the protesters with understanding and empathy,\u201d Wayya said.<\/p>\n<p>The Commissioner concluded by reiterating that the Kano government operates transparently and remains committed to protecting democratic values.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur government is open in all its activities\u2014and that is how we will continue to operate,\u201d he assured.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. The Kano State Government has dismissed a report by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), which accused the state of violating press freedom. Speaking at a press briefing in Kano, the Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Comrade Ibrahim Abdullahi Wayya, described the report as \u201cbaseless and unfounded,\u201d saying it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":184690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[254],"class_list":["post-184691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Kano Govt Dismisses Soyinka Centre&#039;s Press Freedom Claims - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Kano State Government has dismissed a report by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), which ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kano Govt Dismisses Soyinka Centre&#039;s Press Freedom Claims\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Kano State Government has dismissed a report by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), which ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-30T09:21:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-30T10:24:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/sm_1761807523.24702.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"730\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"461\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Kano Govt Dismisses Soyinka Centre&#8217;s Press Freedom Claims\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-30T09:21:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-30T10:24:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims\"},\"wordCount\":417,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/sm_1761807523.24702.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims\",\"name\":\"Kano Govt Dismisses Soyinka Centre's Press Freedom Claims - Nigeria\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/sm_1761807523.24702.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-30T09:21:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-30T10:24:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"The Kano State Government has dismissed a report by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), which ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/sm_1761807523.24702.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/sm_1761807523.24702.jpg\",\"width\":730,\"height\":461,\"caption\":\"Kano Govt Dismisses Soyinka Centre's Press Freedom Claims\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kano Govt Dismisses Soyinka Centre&#8217;s Press Freedom Claims\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\",\"name\":\"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/cfeditoren\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kano Govt Dismisses Soyinka Centre's Press Freedom Claims - Nigeria","description":"The Kano State Government has dismissed a report by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), which ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kano Govt Dismisses Soyinka Centre's Press Freedom Claims","og_description":"The Kano State Government has dismissed a report by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), which ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims","og_site_name":"Nigeria","article_published_time":"2025-10-30T09:21:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-30T10:24:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":730,"height":461,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/sm_1761807523.24702.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Kano Govt Dismisses Soyinka Centre&#8217;s Press Freedom Claims","datePublished":"2025-10-30T09:21:41+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-30T10:24:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims"},"wordCount":417,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/sm_1761807523.24702.jpg","keywords":["Nigeria"],"articleSection":["all news","Policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims","name":"Kano Govt Dismisses Soyinka Centre's Press Freedom Claims - Nigeria","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/sm_1761807523.24702.jpg","datePublished":"2025-10-30T09:21:41+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-30T10:24:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"The Kano State Government has dismissed a report by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), which ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/sm_1761807523.24702.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/sm_1761807523.24702.jpg","width":730,"height":461,"caption":"Kano Govt Dismisses Soyinka Centre's Press Freedom Claims"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/kano-govt-dismisses-soyinka-centres-press-freedom-claims#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kano Govt Dismisses Soyinka Centre&#8217;s Press Freedom Claims"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/","name":"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/cfeditoren"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}