The House of Representatives has been warned against proceeding with the bill seeking to regulate media in Nigeria.
The Nigerian media is self-regulatory through the Nigerian Press Council (NPC).
But the lawmakers are working to amend the NPC act to give President Muhammadu Buhari’s government the powers to regulate the media both traditional and online.
But the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO), which is the body comprising of all stakeholders in the Nigerian media industry, has asked the lawmakers to set aside the bill which they said is seeking to discourage freedom of speech and press in the country.
The bill is tagged the ‘Bill for an Act to Amend the Nigerian Press Council Act, CAP N128, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, to Remove Bottlenecks Affecting Its Performance and Make the Council in Tune with Current Realities in Regulating the Press and for Related Matters (HB 330).’
According to HumAngle, there are five bills seeking to regulate freedom of speech in Nigeria, and because of the desperation of the government to control the press and gag dissent, critical stakeholders were not invited during a public hearing.
Chairman of the House Committee on Information, National Orientation, Ethics and Values, Olusegun Odebunmi, said an “open invitation” to the event was extended to stakeholders.
“So, I am sorry if there is anybody who thinks we did not invite them. It is not by intention; it was definitely a mistake. Notwithstanding, we have covered everybody through our advert,” Odebunmi said.
But the representative of the NPO, Azubuike Ishiekwene, said a negotiated conversation between the parties involved seemed to be the only way to deal with the matter since it is still a subject of litigation in the Supreme Court.
“The last time it came up in 2010 – it is a matter that has actually been pending since 1999 – 17 of the 39 clauses contained in the bill that you are considering were ruled unconstitutional by the court at that time. Of course, the Federal Government appealed the ruling. We won the appeal and the matter is currently before the Supreme Court,” Ishiekwene said.
“I will rest my case by appealing to the honourable members of this committee; I crave your indulgence to refer to a conversation that was held on a similar matter in 2018 when this matter came up before the Senate and the pendency of this matter before the court was canvassed.
“And the Senate – the 8th National Assembly – at that time agreed that the prudent thing to do was to step it down. I urge this House to also consider a similar step,” he added.
HunAngle also reports that a joint memorandum by the International Press Centre, Media Rights Agenda, Centre for Media Law and Advocacy, and the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism, have asked the National Assembly to expunge all laws intended to criminalise free speech and press.