The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an open letter to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, urging him to “urgently instruct Mr. Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to withdraw the apparently illegal Broadcasting Code and Memo threatening to sanction any broadcast that denigrates, disrespects, insults, and abuses president, governors, lawmakers, and other elders and leaders in authority.”
SERAP also asked President Buhari to “instruct Mr. Mohammed and the NBC to immediately rescind the fine of N5 million imposed on Nigeria Info 99.3 FM radio station, following reported comments by a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Obadiah Malafia, during an interview with the station.”
The NBC had last week reportedly issued a stern warning to journalists and broadcast stations, stating: “To denigrate our governors, lawmakers, elders and leaders in abusive terms is not our culture. We respect our leaders as a positive cultural value. The Commission may be compelled to impose sanctions where stations fail to curb this practice.”
In the letter dated 15 August 2020 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said: “Rather than pushing to enforce a culture to respect president, governors, lawmakers, elders, and other leaders, Mr Muhammed and the NBC should use their entrusted public office and mandates to promote a culture of public debate, access to information, transparency and accountability in government.”
According to SERAP: “nothing can be more destructive to people’s exercise of basic human rights, and to democratic politics than the suppression of the media, and media freedom. The alleged ‘cultural codes’, which Mr. Muhammed and the NBC are now using to punish journalists, broadcast stations and other Nigerians are patently contrary to the public interests.”
“The implementation of the code and the memo would further deter meaningful citizens’ engagement, and have a chilling effect on Nigerians’ human rights, particularly the rights to freedom of expression and access to information, undermine the idea of representative democracy, as well as make public officials less responsive to the people,” SERAP said.
The letter, a copy of which was sent to Mr. Lai Muhammed, read in part: “We would be grateful if the requested action and measures are taken within 7 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then that the measures have been taken, the Registered Trustees of SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel you to do so in the public interest.”
SERAP therefore urged Mr. Buhari to urgently:
* Instruct the Mr. Lai Muhammed and the NBC to immediately withdraw the code and memo to journalists and broadcasters threatening to sanction and punish them on the basis of cultural codes prohibiting them from denigrating, disrespecting, insulting and abusing president, governors, lawmakers, and other elders and leaders in authority;
* Instruct Mr. Lai Muhammed and the NBC to immediately rescind the apparently illegal fine of N5m imposed on Nigeria Info 99.3 FM radio station;
* Propose and promote rules and codes that would ensure a culture of public accountability, prevent grand corruption, curtail abuse of power by public officials and politicians, as well as improve a democratic relationship and engagement between citizens and the government;
* Publicly commit to enforce constitutional and international human rights of journalists and the media and all Nigerians, and to faithfully fulfil your constitutional oath of office;
* Publicly commit to restore public trust in government, and to respect and protect the constitutional rights of journalists and the media to report on allegations of corruption and other socio-economic challenges confronting the country
GIK/APA