EDITORIAL: Buhari’s high-handedness and lawmakers attempt to gag free press 

Having successfully banned the operation of Twitter activities in Nigeria, authorities at the executive and the legislative arms of government are hell bent on censoring the media.

The government under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari is making reckless efforts despite the provision of Section 22 of the Constitution which expressly states that “the press, radio, television and other agencies of 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 move was strengthened in June when Information minister Lai Mohammed told the parliament to empower the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission by extending the agency’s power to censor the media to include all online media through the ongoing amendment of the agency’s Act currently being considered.

Mr Mohammed would double down on this, during “Politics Nationwide,’’ a Radio Nigeria call-in programme, saying that the regulation of social media platforms is becoming a global practice.

He said that most countries have come to terms with the power wielded by the tech giants and how governments are vulnerable to such powers. Hence, the need for regulation. 

NEWS DIRECT understands that Mr Mohammed through his demand ignored the Section 39(2) of the Constitution which states that “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.”

The amendment being sought by the government means that discretionary powers to fine and determine what can be published as wielded by the NBC on broadcast media may be extended to all online media.

Amidst all these irregularities, Segun Odebunmi, a federal lawmaker sponsored the controversial Nigeria Press Council (NPC) and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) amendment bills. 

The NPC bill, if passed into law, intends to regulate the print media and related media houses, impose sanctions on perceived areas of infringement, including fines and terms of imprisonment against journalists and media houses.

There are also fears that the government is using the NPC and NBC Act amendment bills to continue the assaults on the media as it has done with the Cybercrimes Act. For us at NEWS DIRECT newspaper, we see this as an undue attempt to suffocate the operations of the media business in Nigeria and also attempt to stylishly change the country from a civil nation to a country being led by tyrants.  

The job of the media is to hold authorities to account and when the media is denied that right as entrenched in the constitution, lawlessness would prevail like it had been the case since President Buhari came into power, using Cybercrimes Act to clampdown on bloggers and journalists for expressing opposing political opinions.

Data from Amnesty International revealed 50 cases where the law had targeted not cybercrime suspects, but bloggers and journalists.

NEWS DIRECT as a medium strongly opposed the penalties for offences stipulated in the proposed amendment, including a fine of N5 million or three years imprisonment because it threatened media independence and freedom. Section 33 (3) (4) of the proposed amendment, does not also give room for retraction or apology where fake news is mistakenly published but recommends a blanket sanction of up to N10 million or closure for a period of one year or both. This is barbaric, sardonic, satanic, wicked and unintelligent, and punitive. 

On Monday, the front banners of major newspapers in Nigeria bore a picture of an individual with a sealed mouth.

“Information Blackout,” read the caption that ran with the picture. “It’s not just against the media….it’s about society’s right to know, your right to be heard.” The message is a joint release from the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN).

We commend this and hope that the NPC bill which gives the president the right to appoint the chairman of the board of the Nigerian Press Council (NPC) is yanked off. The press cannot be repressed without a democratic government losing its legitimacy.