Press Council Bill: NPAN protests exclusion from public hearing

The Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) has protested its exclusion from the public hearing on the Nigerian Press Council (NPC) Amendment Bill.

NPAN on Wednesday described the non-extension of invitation to it as a major stakeholder on the Bill scheduled for public debate today.

NPAN’s protest was contained in a statement signed by its President Kabiru A. Yusuf, who urged the leadership of the National Assembly to make amend.

He urged media practioners to monitor the public hearing to guard against decisions that could be inimical to free press and good governance.

The statement reads: “In fact, going by available information, the hearing had initially been scheduled for yesterday (Wednesday, June 16, 2021), along with four other media-related bills.

“As a stakeholder in the Nigerian media space, we don’t understand why print media owners have not been invited to participate in the hearing.

“This is contrary to earlier practice when the NPAN was invited to a public hearing on the same bill in the last Senate.

“This time around, we find it strange that we would get to know of this development by sheer happenstance.

“We therefore call on the leadership of the National Assembly, and the House of Representatives in particular, to redress this anomaly.

“With the public hearing now delayed by a day, the NPAN will endeavor to show up, even without a formal invitation.

“We also call on all media workers and their organisations, to pay attention to the public hearing which may have important consequences on the freedom of the press in particular and good governance in general.”