Olusegun Odebunmi, a federal lawmaker from Oyo state, who
sponsored the bills for the amendment to the laws establishing the NBC and the
NPC, says legislative process on the bills has been suspended.
Many Nigerians and media stakeholders have described the
steps taken by the lower legislative chamber to amend the Nigerian Press
Council (NPC) and the Nigeria Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Acts as “draconian”
and an attempt to stifle free speech in the country.
But speaking on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television
programme, on Tuesday, Odebunmi said he initiated the suspension of the bills
to allow for consultation with stakeholders in the industry.
“Personally, I’m suspending the process for more
consultation,” he said.
“What I’m saying is that the NUJ cannot gag the activities
of the national assembly by saying ‘No you must drop it’, because obviously
that is not the way.
“We have suspended the process for more consultation to
happen on it. They demanded for 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.”
The federal lawmaker also said his intention is not to gag
the press, saying he recognises the lapses in the practice of journalism in
Nigeria and that the amendments are aimed at fixing those problems.
“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,” he said.
“All is not well with the NPC agency. It is an agency of
government, and you’re expecting something to be given back to the society, but
until now nothing has been coming from the agency.”
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