NPO wants NASS to stop public hearing on Nigerian Press Council Bill, 2018

…Says bill unconstitutional, a replay of obnoxious Decree 4 of I984
As the National Assembly sets to hold a public hearing today on the proposed Nigerian Press Council Bill, 2018, the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO) has urged the the lawmakers to drop the proposed bill on the grounds that its contents are an almagam of the obnoxious Decree 4 of I984 and the Newspaper Registration Decree 43 of 1993, which are inimical to press freedom and free speech.

Besides, the NPO said discussing the proposed bill is unconstitutional as a law suit instituted by it on the same subject matter of the bill is pending at the Supreme Court.

It added that entertaining the matter of the bill runs against the principles and tenets of the rule of law and is subjudice in view of which the bill should not have been drafted in the first instance.

The NPO, comprising the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE) and the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), along with other media stakeholders, in a statement after their meeting, noted that the bill is, “for all intents and purposes,

draconian and anti-press freedom being an amalgamation of the obnoxious Public Officers Protection Against False accusation Decree No. 4 of 1984 and the Newspapers Registration Decree 43 of 1993,

both vestiges of the dark days of military rule and therefore incurably and irreparably bad, being also inconsistent with values of our democratic society.”

The statement was signed by the President, Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria/President, Nigerian Press Organisation, Nduka Obaigbena; President, Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE), Funke Egbemode; President, Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Waheed Odusile; and Chairman, Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), John Momoh.

Others who signed the statement include the Director, International Press Centre, Lanre Arogundade; Executive Director, Institute for Media and Society, Akin Akingbulu, and Director, Media Law Centre, Richard Akinnola.

Insisting that the bill should be dropped until the determination of the case at the Supreme Court, the NPO noted that the bill seeks to criminalise journalism practise despite the fact the laws of the country already have enough provisions and avenues for seeking legal redress and that the bill smacks of an attempt at undue interference in the operations of the media in Nigeria as businesses registered under the relevant laws of the federation.

According to the NPO, “The bill seeks for the Nigeria Press Council to usurp the powers of the courts by assuming extra-judicial powers.

“That the bill seeks to incapacitate the media in the exercise of the duties and obligations imposed on it by section 22 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to monitor governance and hold government accountable to the people.”

The section states as follows: “The press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this Chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people”.

The NPO therefore insisted that the bill violates the provisions of section 39 of the 1999 constitution, sections 1 and 2 of which state as follows:

“(1) Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, every person shall be entitled to own, establish and operate any medium for the dissemination of information, ideas and opinions.

“At the same time, it also violates Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement Act) No. 2 of 1983 to which Nigeria is a signatory and which is now part of the country’s laws.

“That the bill through some of its other obnoxious provisions seeks to indoctrinate Nigerians, through the use and misuse of curricula in training of journalists and usurp the powers of the regulatory bodies in the educational sector affecting media training especially the National Universities Commission and the National Board for Technical Education.

“That the bill seeks to create the impression that the Nigerian media community does not take the issues of ethics and self regulation seriously whereas it is a well known fact that the mechanisms actually exist including the Code of Conduct of Journalists in Nigeria, the Ethics Committees of the NUJ and NGE and the recently launched Nigerian Media Code of Election Coverage endorsed by media stakeholders.”

While urging the Nigerian Senate to borrow from best practices in other jurisdictions that has expressly provided for and guaranteed press freedom without any form of government interference,

the NPO added “that the Senate and indeed the National Assembly should enable the media in the exercise of its constitutional obligations as spelt out in section 22 by passing laws that will promote transparency, accountability and open government

such as mandatory delivery of the State of the Nation address by the President and State of The State Address by Governors on specified days of the year.”

The NPO also urged the National Assembly to pass a bill, “ensuring by law, Presidential and Governorship Election Debates before elections;

complete transparency in election funding including public declaration of sources of election finance by all candidates and political parties and ensuring the integrity of our electoral process.”

However, the NPO assured that “as responsible members of Nigerian society, we hereby state without equivocation that the media will continue doing all it can to further promote media ethics, professionalism, transparency, accountability and self-regulation, to ensure that the public interest is served at all times.”