The House of Representatives has stayed action on further deliberations on the Nigeria Press Council (NPC) and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) amendment bill, which has been widely rejected by Nigerians.
The sponsor of the controversial bill, Segun Odebunmi, who is also chairman of the House Committee on Information, National Orientation, Ethics and Values, on Tuesday said that the House had decided to suspend the bill to enable the lawmakers to consult properly.
“We have been on this process for a while and right now, we have suspended it for more consultation to happen,” Odebunmi said on Sunrise Daily of Channels TV.
Media groups had described the bill as draconian though the lawmakers said it was aimed at ensuring optimum performance for the press.
That was not acceptable to media groups. They launched a widely circulated advertorial that ran with the caption ‘Information Blackout,’ on the front page of many national dailies of Monday and Tuesday as well as television chyron and lead graphics on online media.
“It’s not just against the media,” the advertorial read. “It is about society’s right to know, your right to be heard.”
