The proposed Amendment of the Nigerian Press Council (NPC) by the National Assembly is facing stiff opposition from media stakeholders. BENJAMIN SAMSON in this report examines the controversy trailing the bill.
The Nigerian Press Council (NPC) Amendment Bill is sponsored by the member representing Ogo Oluwa/Surulere constituency in Oyo state, Olusegun Odebunmi. Odebunmi is also the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Information, National Orientation, Ethics and Values, which handled the recent public hearing on the contentious bill.
The controversy
The bill has drawn skepticisms and condemnation from stakeholders in the media industry. A legal practitioner, Ishaku Daneji, in a chat with Blueprint Weekend highlighted the controversial clauses in the bill thus: One contentious area is that which seeks to give more powers to the minister of information to control the conduct of print media houses and media practitioners.
According to him, Section 3 (c) stipulates that, “With the approval of the minister in charge of information, establish and disseminate a national Press Code and standards to guide conduct of print media, related media and media practitioners; (d) approve penalties and fines against violation of the Press Code by print media houses and media practitioners, including revocation of licence; (e) receives, process and consider applications for the establishment, ownership and operation of print media and other related media houses; (f) With the approval of the minister, grant print media and other related licenses to any application considered worthy of such; (g) monitor activities of the press, media and other related media houses to ensure compliance with the National Press Code for professional and ethical conduct, including the Nigerian Union of Journalists.”
Sanctions for erring media houses, journalists
Other contentious aspects of the amendments are clauses which stipulate various punitive measures against media houses and journalists that violate the National Press Code to be put in place by the council with the approval of the Minister of Information.
Section 3 of the amendment stipulates that, “When an offence under this section has been committed by an individual or a body corporate, such a person(s) or body corporate shall be deemed guilty of an offence and liable to be prosecuted against and be punished accordingly. Where any person or body corporate has been convicted of this offence thus: (i) such person or body shall be liable to a fine of five million naira only or three years imprisonment to the person or the promoter (in case of body corporate); (ii) to an additional fine of twenty thousand naira for each day during which the offence continues.”
Section 17(3) said where the medium of information or the journalist so sanctioned does not comply with the Council’s decision, the medium or journalist is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction: (a) in case of a body corporate to a fine of one million naira only and (b) in case of a journalist to fine of two hundred and fifty thousand naira only and the council shall order the suspension of the journalist from practice for a period not exceeding six months or more.
“(4) Where there is a persistent refusal to comply with the directives of the council, the medium or journalist so sanctioned in accordance with sub-section (1) of this Section, commits an offence and is liable on conviction: (a) in case of a body corporate to a fine of two million naira only; (b) in case of a journalist to a fine of two hundred and fifty thousand naira only; (c) in an extreme case, the council shall order the striking out the name of the journalist from the register.”
Registration of print media houses
Another contentious aspect is that which seeks to criminalize the operations of media outfits that are not registered with the council.
Section 33 (1) of the amendment stated that, “Any person (s) who, without documentation with the council owns, publishes or prints a newspaper, magazine or journal, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of five million naira or a term of three years imprisonment or both and to an additional fine of twenty thousand naira for every day the offence continues.”
Criminalisation of newspapers’ vendors
Beside the above, Subsection 2 of 33 also criminalises vendors that circulate any newspaper, magazine or journal that is not registered with the council. They are liable to pay a fine of N250, 000 upon conviction and term of one year imprisonment or both.
Penalty for fake news purveyors
Another contentious section is that which seeks to criminalise fake news purveyors.
Section 33 (3) said: “Any person who carried news established to be fake news thereafter, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of five million naira or two years imprisonment or both and compensation of two million payable to the person (s), group(s) corporate body (s), the government or any of its agencies who the news was carried against.
“(4) Any print media houses whose medium was used to carry such news as specified in subsection 3 of this section is liable on conviction to a fine of 10 million naira or closure of such medium for one year or both and a compensation of twenty million naira payable to the person (s), group(s) corporate body (s), government or any of its agencies who the news was carried against.”
Stakeholders’ angst
However, the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO), the umbrella body comprising the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) has called on the House of Representatives to step down the bill “immediately.”
A representative of NPO, Azu Ishiekwene, who is also the Editor-in-Chief of Leadership newspapers, made the call for the bill to be dumped at a public hearing organised by the House Committee on Information, National Orientation, Ethics and Values.
Ishiekwene told the Committee that there was a pending matter at the Supreme Court challenging the amendment of the NPC Act, saying it was imperative for the House to stay all actions on the NPC amendment until the apex court had given its verdict on the matter.
He said, “We did not receive enough information that would have allowed us to engage the committee at this hearing as robustly as we would have done. Be that as it may, honourable members, as stewards of the law, there is a pending matter at the Supreme Court between the NPO and some of the actors spearheading the amendment of the NPC Act.
“As stewards of the law, we expected that there should have been wider consultations before the amendment of the bill. We are appealing to the honourable members of this committee to step down this bill because of the pending matter in court.”
Further criticisms
Similarly, a former governor of Ogun state and ex-managing director of Daily Times, Chief Olusegun Osoba, in an interview with Punch newspapers said the proposed bill is draconian and worse than Decree 4.
“It is a terrible draconian law. It has never happened in the history of Nigeria that a law as sweeping as this will be proposed. Not even under the military was this done.
“Decree 4 was restricted to the disclosure of sources of information. The one they are proposing now includes obtaining a licence before you can build a press hub. You have to obtain a licence. It says before you can even begin printing a newspaper, you must obtain a licence. It is far-reaching and sweeping.
“Press freedom is never awarded. Over the years, we have always fought for the right to practice. We have been fighting the press council issue for over 25 years. I remember what led to the Nigerian Press Organisation and the production of a code of conduct for journalists. It was because attempts were made in the 1970s to set up a regulatory body for the print media. We resisted it and we have to continue resisting it,” he said.
Committee’s insistence
However, Odebunmi insisted that the Committee would proceed with the amendment, describing it as “a government’s baby.” He said the bill was not meant to gag press freedom but to remove bottlenecks retarding the optimum performance of the NPC, as well as sanitise media practice in the country.
“The NPC amendment bill was initiated with an independent mind to transform and make the Council move with the current realities in the media industry. The proposal for the establishment of a ‘press code’ as proposed in the bill was to protect and guide the Council to checkmate and reduce quackery, fake news and tackle promoters of hate speech,” he said.
NPC’s backing
In his submission at the public hearing, the executive secretary, Nigerian Press Council (NPC), Francis Nwosu, said the bill was aimed at removing the bottlenecks affecting the performance of the NPC Act Cap N28.
“The NPC Act has been a subject of controversy and litigation since 1999. Efforts to resolve perceived disagreements have been carried out by former ministers of information and former members of the National Assembly, but some issues have continued to linger,” he said. According to him, the bill proposed amendments in 13 sections bordering on many areas in the first schedule of the extant laws.
Dwelling on some of the proposed amendments, the NPC commended the inclusion of fake news and called for the inclusion of hate speech as well as expanding the concept of “freedom of the press.”
“The inclusion of fake news is a welcome development. The proposed act should define what will constitute fake news for easy interpretation. The Council suggests that a provision against hate speech should also be included in this amendment.”
On the prosecution of offenders, the NPC suggested that it should be done by the Attorney General of the Federation after an investigation by the police.
“This is so because the council does not have powers to prosecute criminal acts. The principal act also made provisions for conviction of offences and it was an area of contention. Stakeholders opposed that provision saying that the council did not have the powers of the court. However, for clarity, the council suggests that the issue of prosecution should be clearly spelt out.”
The Council suggested that Section 9(1) of the Act should be recast to read; “The Council in collaboration with the Nigerian Press Organisation shall establish a National Press and Ethical Code of Conduct for Media Houses and Media Professionals, which shall come to effect and be disseminated after approval by the Minister”.
“The desirability of a press council should indeed not be in dispute as not only does it serve as a people-oriented democratic, efficient and inexpensive forum for hearing complaints.
“It also serves as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism that helps in reducing the barrage of litigations that otherwise would clog the courts. This is in addition to its mandate of the maintenance and promotion of high professional standards for the Nigerian press.”
Presidency reacts
Meanwhile, the senior adviser to the president on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, has distanced President Muhammadu Buhari from the proposed amendment, saying that the president “has nothing to do” with the plan to amend the NPC Act.
Adesina clarified the position of the Presidency while fielding questions from State House correspondents after the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in Abuja.
According to him, the proposed amendment is a federal government initiative, and as such, only the minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, can address it.
“That is not strictly a presidency thing because the president has nothing to do with that. It’s a government thing and it’s the minister that can talk about it. So, thank you,” he said.
Dissent
However, the NPO has resolved to resist the government attempt to stifle the media’s constitutional freedom of speech in Nigeria, even as it set July 12, 2021, to stage a Front Page protest by publishing a commonly designed artwork in all the newspapers.
The protest is expected to continue on July 13, 2021, with all newspapers carrying a front page editorial “with a central theme, denouncing government’s attempt to stifle the people’s right to know through its crude attempt to return the country into the draconian era of the military, even as we are in a democracy.”
A statement released on Tuesday signed by Mr. Feyi Smith on behalf of the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), after a meeting held in Lagos, indicated that the July 14, 2021 publication will explain why and what prompted activities of the two previous days.
According to the statement, the outrageous bill proposed to regulate the print media via a press code and standards, grant or revoke publishing licenses, register or delist journalists as well as ensure truthful, genuine and quality services and media practitioners.
The statement partly read, “On July 12, 2021, All newspapers staged a Front Page Protest by publishing a commonly designed artwork, denouncing government‘s attempt to stifle the people’s ‘ rights to know and freedom of speech.
“July 13, 2021, All newspapers carry a front page editorial with a central theme – denouncing the government’s attempt to stifle the people’s right to know through its crude attempt to return the country into the draconian era of the military, even as we are in a democracy. July 14, 2021 Publication of materials explaining why and what prompted activities of the two previous days.”
