The House of Representatives says it has suspended the bill seeking amendment of the laws establishing Nigeria Press Council and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Information, National Orientation, Ethics and Values, Olusegun Odebunmi, disclosed this on Tuesday during an interview on Channel Television.
Many stakeholders in the media industry had kicked against the amendment to the laws, describing the move as an attempt to gag the media,
Debate on the bill, which was at the public hearing stage, came as the Federal Government moves to regulate social media after suspending the microblogging site, Twitter.
On Monday, several newspapers in the country published an advertorial against media regulations bills. The advertorial, which appeared on the front pages of dailies, was sponsored by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPA).
Odebunmi who is also the sponsor of the bill said he initiated the suspension of the bills to allow for consultation with stakeholders in the industry.
“We have suspended the process for more consultation to happen on it. They (media stakeholders) demanded a lot of time and I said ‘no problem, we have given you; even if you spend three, four to five weeks’. So far, more consultations from critical stakeholders, and many people have been submitting their memoranda to the national assembly even within the industry,” he said.
“My intention is not to gag the press, and unless all the practitioners can say all is well with the industry, to the best of my knowledge I know all is not well. And I know the national assembly has the power to look into the existing act.
“All is not well with the NPC agency. It is an agency of the government, and you are expecting something to be given back to the society, but until now nothing has been coming from the agency.”
