By Gistflash
June 17, 2021
The Nigerian Press Council (NCP) says it plans to evolve an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism towards resolving complaints against media practitioners in the country.
Mr Francis Nwosu, NCP Executive Secretary, said this at a public hearing on a bill seeking amendment to the NCP Act on Thursday in Abuja.
Nwosu said that the planned amendment was aimed at removing bottleneck in the operations of the council.
“The expansion of the council’s function as being proposed is highly commendable, this is a giant stride that will allow the council to venture into other areas in its task of regulation and also to impact positively on the print media,” he said.
He said the regulation of print media in the country should be extended to online publishers, suggesting also that the name Executive Secretary of NCP be changed to Director General of NPC.
Nwosu said that power should be given to the Executive Secretary to issue summon against erring media practitioners, saying that this would aid NCP’s effectiveness and efficiency.
He said that what constituted fake news should be defined for easy interpretation, adding that provisions against hate speech should be included in the proposed amendment as well as requisite penalties against offenders.
Mr Azubuike Ishiekwene, President, Nigeria Press Organisation (NPO), said there was a pending case at the Supreme Court against the proposed amendment.
He urged the National Assembly to suspend the amendment pending the determination of the case.
However, Chairman of the committee, Rep. Odebunmi Segun, said no court could restrain the committee from doing its job.
“We have the constitutional mandate to do our job and we will pursue it by getting the views of Nigerians,” he said.
Mr Chris Isiguzo, National President, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), urged the committee to grant the union three weeks to capture its views in a document for submission to the committee.
He said there was need to consult widely among stakeholders on the issue, adding that the union got a short notice to the public hearing.
NAN