Media groups tackle Presidency, N'Assembly over press council act amendment – Newstrends
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Media groups tackle Presidency, N’Assembly over press council act amendment

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4 years ago

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Media groups under the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO) have kicked against the proposed amendment of the Nigerian Press Council Act over the inclusion of some clauses they described as unconstitutional.
The bill was considered at a public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Information, national orientation, ethics and values on Thursday.
Some media rights groups and other critical stakeholders in the media industry have also vowed to resist any move to infringe on press freedom through the proposed amendment of the NPC Act.
The NPO, an umbrella body of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), argued that such clauses were a threat to press freedom.
A member of the NPO delegation, Azu Ishiekwene, said almost a half of the 39 clauses in the bill contained unconstitutional regulations that could stifle journalism practice.
He said the NPO had challenged the clauses up to the Supreme Court, and that continuing with the amendment would amount to preempting the court on the matter.
“It is a matter that has been pending in court since 1999 but the first decisive ruling in the matter came in 2010 when the high court ruled that 17 out of the 39 clauses in the bill were unconstitutional,” he said.
“The Federal Government appealed and got a ruling in December 2010. That ruling was again appealed by the NPO and it is pending at the Supreme Court.
“If you make a law now that binds the hands of the legislation or tilts the legislation one way or the order you are preempting the outcome of what the court is going to do.”
the International Press Centre (IPC) alongside Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Centre for Media Law and Advocacy (CMLA) and the Premium Times Centre For Investigation Journalism (PTCIJ) have also kicked against moves to infringe on press freedom and media independence in Nigeria.
Executive Director at the IPC, Lanre Arogundade, contributing, said, “The provision of 3 (d) constitutes a potential threat to press freedom and media survival as it does not provide for judicial intervention before highly punitive measures are handed down by the council and indeed could be used as a political weapon against the media.
“The section provides for penalties and fines against violation of the press code by print media houses and media practitioners, including revocation of licence.
“Section 17 (3) (a) & (b) provides that a journalist could be held liable for the offence committed by his or her organisation and can be made to pay a fine of N250,000.”
Arogundade added that another “punitive” clause is in section 21 (5) (a) whose amendment is such that “a journalist can be punished by the council even after he/she might have been found guilty by a court of law and without the council going back to the court to report continued infringement.
“Section 33 (3) and (4) does not give room for retraction or apology where a fake news is mistakenly published but recommends a blanket sanction of up to N10m or closure for a period of one year.”
A former Rep member and former Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Sani Zorro, expressed concern over the NPC bill amendment, which he noted, was coming at a time when the government had taken some decision in regulating social media.
Zorro said the best way to go was for the NPC and critical stakeholders in the media industry to dialogue and chart way forward in the best interest of all.
He advocated that the NPC Board should be made up of professionals rather than being a “political board” which will not augur well for the interest of the media industry.
The Radio, Television and Theatre Arts Workers Union of Nigeria (RATTAWU), said Section 3 of the bill which wanted to empower the NPC to “approve penalties and fines against violation of the Press Codes by print media houses and media practitioners, including revocation of license,” should be expunged, arguing that print media houses were business ventures registered by the CAC and not NPC.
The union said any move to censor them would amount to a nullity.
National President of RATTAWU, Comrade Kabiru Garba, also pointed out that Section 9(1) of the bill which said, “the council shall establish a national press and ethical code of conduct for media houses and media practitioners, which shall come to effect and be disseminated after approval by the minister”, should be discarded.
He said the codes should rather come from the board of the council comprising all the stakeholders.
But Executive-secretary of the NPC, Francis Nwosu, commended the amendment of the bill and recommended that the council should also be empowered to regulate online media.

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Your assessment misleading, APC tackles Obi over socio-economic situations

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1 day ago

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January 3, 2025

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Peter Obi and Felix Morka

Your assessment misleading, APC tackles Obi over socio-economic situations

One-time Anambra State Governor Peter Obi came under a scathing criticism yesterday from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over his assessment of the security and economic situation of the country.

At a news conference, Obi disagreed with the claims of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his New Year Day address which chronicled the feats attained by the APC-led administration.

Obi alleged that the political, economic and security situations in the country have worsened under the incumbent administration.

But the APC, through its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka carpeted Obi, describing his assessment as jaundiced, misleading and an attempt to score cheap political points.

In a statement, Morka put a lie to Obi’s claims.

He noted that Obi’s assessment was at variance with all indicators that showed that the nation’s economy is rebounding in significant measure across all sectors.

Dismissing Obi’s claims, Morka said: “While Nigerians celebrated the New Year with hope for a more glorious 2025, Peter Obi, former Governor of Anambra State and former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, was seemingly stuck in replay of his jangling, gloom-ridden wish-list for our country.

“Obi’s new year message, in which he claimed that the political, economic and security situation of our dear country is worsening daily, is misleading and appears intended to score cheap political points.

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“This claim, at a time when all indicators show that our country is rebounding in significant measure across all sectors, casts Obi, squarely, as Nigeria’s leading doomsayer.”

Morka, who reeled out the achievements of the APC-led administration, said: “In reality, 18 months later, the economy under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, has showed steady record of progress.”

He listed the landmarks as:

The ruling party further argued: “Despite these and other initial beneficial outcomes of ongoing unprecedented reforms, the administration is doubling its effort to ensuring that the reforms deliver their fullest benefits for the sustainable growth and transformation of our country.”

The ruling party said that the Presidential New Year message acknowledged that the “cost of food and essential drugs remained a significant concern for many Nigerian households. And to reverse this trend, Mr. President assured that his administration was committed to lowering food prices by boosting food production and promoting local production of drugs.”

The party also highlighted Tinubu’s resolve to crash the current inflation rate from 34 per cent to 15 per cent in the course of this fiscal year as a move to addressing the threat inflation poses to the country’s economy.

The statement further reads: “With the vigour in the administration’s war on corruption, evidenced by ongoing investigations and trial of  well-heeled Nigerians, Obi’s pontification on the urgent need to tame corruption is a clear case  of carrying coal to Newcastle.”

Faulting Obi, the party said: “It is a thing of irony that Peter Obi, who now arrogates to himself to be omniscient and philosopher’s stone, when it comes to our nation’s challenges, left no record of significant achievement, let alone transformation of any kind, in his eight-year tenure as Governor of Anambra State.

“Like his co-travellers in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Obi’s obsessive pessimism and endless but futile effort to incite public outrage against the administration is borne out of their realisation that President Tinubu is unwittingly cementing their ultimate political irrelevance by his visionary and full-throttle reform and transformation of the fundamental pillars of our national life.”

Appealing for citizens’ support and patience, the APC spokesman assured Nigerians that “under the banner of the Renewed Hope Agenda (RHA), President Tinubu is dutifully turning our nation’s fortunes around.

“He (Tinubu) deserves the support  and patience of Nigerians in order to consolidate on the deep economic foundation he has laid, and deliver a vibrant, prosperous new Nigeria for the good of all.  We urge Nigerians to remain confident of better days ahead.”

Your assessment misleading, APC tackles Obi over socio-economic situations

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Currency in circulation now N4.8tn – CBN report

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4 days ago

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December 31, 2024

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Currency in circulation now N4.8tn – CBN report

Currency in circulation has reached an all-time high of N4.8 trillion as of November 2024, recording over seven per cent increase from the previous month.

Also, currency outside banks grew significantly in the same month hitting an all-time high of N4.6 trillion from the N4.2 trillion in the month of October.

These figures were contained in the money and credit supply data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The currency in circulation is the amount of cash–in the form of paper notes or coins–within a country that is physically used to conduct transactions between consumers and businesses.

It represents the money that has been issued by the country’s monetary authority, minus cash that has been removed from the system.

Similarly, currency outside a bank refers to cash held by individuals, businesses and other entities that is not stored in banks.

The currency outside the bank represents about 96 per cent of the currency in circulation.

Nigerians have in recent times been facing acute cash shortage with banks limiting daily withdrawal at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) to N20,000 irrespective of the number of accounts held by an account owner.

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According to the latest data, the currency in circulation grew by seven per cent to reach 4,878,125.22 from 4,549,217.51 in October.

Currency in circulation has grown steadily in the outgoing year 2024 with over one trillion naira added to cash in circulation after starting the year with N3.65 trillion in January.

In February, the currency in circulation slightly increased to N3.69 trillion representing an increase of N43 billion or 1.18 per cent from the January figure.

March also saw an appreciable increase to N3.87 trillion while it further increased to N3.92 trillion in the following month of April.

The growth trajectory continued in May with the currency in circulation increasing slightly to N3.97 trillion, an increase of N42 billion or 1.07 per cent while it reached an all-time high of 4.04 trillion, an increase of 2.11 per cent from May.

The July figure also rose marginally with the currency in circulation settling for N4.05 trillion before growing to N4.14 trillion in August and N4.43 trillion in September and N4.5 trillion in October.

In the same vein, currency outside banks grew from N4.2 trillion in October to N4.6 trillion in November, showing increasing preference for other means of storing outside bank deposits.

Economist, Dr. Paul Alaje attributed the development to the expanding money supply, adding, “Money supply is expanding but this may not necessarily be in cash. As it is expanding, it will necessarily induce inflation. But you can’t blame the people. People must look for money. How much was bottled water last year, how much is it today? All of this will induce inflation. If you now ask, what is the cause of inflation? Is it money supply itself or a devaluation policy? It is a devaluation policy. Money supply is an offshoot. So the Central Bank is raising interest rates to actually reduce money supply but the more they try the more money supply expands.”

He stated that the floatation policy of the CBN has created inflation, adding, “It is like chasing one’s tail and I don’t know if you are going to catch it.”

Currency in circulation now N4.8tn – CBN report

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Tinubu not telling Nigerians the truth, says Sule Lamido

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6 days ago

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December 29, 2024

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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Tinubu not telling Nigerians the truth, says Sule Lamido

President Bola Tinubu has been accused of not being forthright about the true state of Nigeria under his administration.

Former Jigawa State Governor and senior Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member, Sule Lamido, made the accusation while speaking on the BBC Hausa programme Gane Mini Hanya.

Lamido criticized both Tinubu and former President Muhammadu Buhari for what he described as a lack of transparency in governance.

“Buhari’s and Tinubu’s governments are not being transparent with Nigerians unlike during the time when PDP was in power where everything was transparent and open to all Nigerians,” Lamido said.

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He accused the two administrations of relying on propaganda rather than providing citizens with accurate information.

Lamido also expressed concerns over President Tinubu’s recent loan requests, questioning the logic behind them. “If Nigerians are being told the truth then there is nothing wrong with that, but how would you budget N30tn, generate N50tn and then request loan when you have a surplus of N20tn,” he said, referencing last year’s budget.

He described the situation as “reckless” and “selfish,” adding, “This recklessness and clear-cut selfishness is not done anywhere in the world, but yet you find (some) Nigerians supporting it. Visit social media and see how APC is being criticised, being referred to as calamity, yet you find some protecting it.”

Tinubu not telling Nigerians the truth, says Sule Lamido

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