The House of Representatives said on Friday that it would review the laws and practices restricting press freedom and the ability of the media to carry out its constitutional role in the country.

Rep. Akin Rotimi, Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, said this while delivering a keynote address, to mark the 2024 World Press Freedom Day organised by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Nigeria.

Rotimi said the legislature would prepare the ground for journalists to operate without any hindrance provided they adhere to the tenets of their profession.

“We will enhance good governance practices, transparency and
accountability through media chats, public hearings, town hall meetings, etc., amongst other scheduled legislative actions in Agenda 6,” he said.

The International Press Freedom Day, celebrated every May 3, is a day of reflection among media professionals and stakeholders on issues of press freedom and professional ethics.

Rotimi said that the 10th House of Representatives led by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, had resolved to work with the media to ensure a successful running of the present government.

He said that the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) conferred on the press a critical role as contained in Section 22 regarding obligations of the mass media.

“The role states that the press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives in this chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people.

“Amongst many other challenges in the course of the discharge of this constitutional mandate, the press faces a disproportionate exposure to harm in the face of the widespread insecurity challenges in the country.

“There are also issues around the dearth of funding but I call on all stakeholders to continue with concerted efforts to address these challenges.

“There is no gainsaying that there are many miles to cover as far as media freedoms in our country is concerned but we have greatly improved from the days of military intervention in our polity (particularly, 1983 – 1998),” Rotimi added.

He urged the media to encourage introspection and self-regulation, and also look at the self-defeating ways that the press delegitimises their own struggle by not upholding ethics, and address them.

Mr Lukas Laible, Deputy Resident Representative, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Nigeria, said the press had become the enabler of Nigerian democracy.

“May 3 of every year is an important day for journalists as freedom of speech is the beacon of the practice.

“Without freedom of speech there won’t be freedom of press, and without freedom of the press, no society can be free.

“Journalists don’t just cover events, they are the people’s transmitter and they show capability in handling issues. They hold political leaders accountable and that is what makes democracy viable.

“Holding political leaders accountable enhances good governance. If the press fails to hold the government accountable, it will deviate from the people,” Laible said.

According to him, the press is so much trusted by the people and as such must make the people know the value of a free world.

Mrs Franca Aiyetan, Secretary, Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), who spoke during a panel session, urged journalists to always do their job in a way that would not consume the people.

Aiyetan, while speaking on the theme “Navigating the Intersection of Media Regulations, Press Freedom Advocacy and Ethical Journalism in the Face of Environmental Crises”, noted that NBC was established to have a formidable Nigerian media.

She said that NBC was not established as an attack dog for the government and as such would want the press to always work with it.

“If a detail about a truth will set two tribes against each other, then, there is something wrong with that truth.”

Another panelist, Mrs Mojirayo Ogunlana, the Executive Director, Digicivic Initiative, said journalists needed laws that should protect them while discharging their job.

“Threats to the lives of journalists should be declared as a state of emergency,” Ogunlana added.

She urged media practitioners to self-regulate themselves to prevent the government from exploiting any vacuum that could give it the opportunity to pounce on them.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, and Nigeria Guild of Editors, NGE, have called on Nigerian authorities at all levels of government to stop using repressive and anti-media laws to target, intimidate and harass journalists, critics and media houses.

The groups made the demand after an interactive session on ‘the state of press freedom in Nigeria’ held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Ikeja.

In a joint statement, SERAP and NGE said that, “the government of President Bola Tinubu, the country’s 36 governors and FCT minister must now genuinely uphold press freedom, ensure access to information to all Nigerians, obey court judgments, and respect the rule of law”.

They expressed concerns about the escalating crackdown on the right to freedom of expression and media freedom and the flagrant disregard for the rule of law by authorities at all levels of government.

The groups note that the suppression of the press in recent times takes various forms ranging from extrajudicial to unlawful detentions, disappearances, malicious prosecutions and wrongful use of both legislation and law enforcement.

The statement read in part: “We would continue to speak truth to power and to hold authorities to account for their constitutional and international obligations including on freedom of expression and media freedom.

“Nigeria as a country has a long and unpleasant history of press gagging and clampdown on media freedom, which is evidence of extensive state censorship of media and in some cases, the utter control of state-owned media houses.

“This position has not changed considerably despite almost 25 years of unbroken democratic rule in the Fourth Republic.”