“leadership and management of the National Assembly to immediately
withdraw the repressive media accreditation guidelines or face legal
action.”
The National Assembly leadership and management had in a letter
yesterday issued the ‘media accreditation guidelines’ that would prevent
journalists from covering the ninth National Assembly. Some of the 20
conditions listed are evidence of incorporation of the media
organisation, proof of membership of the NUJ with registration number
and the code of certification from the National Library of Nigeria.
Reacting, SERAP in a statement today by its deputy director Kolawole
Oluwadare said: “Nigerians expect the leadership of the National
Assembly to show a greater level of transparency and accountability and
to explain and take responsibility for what they are doing rather than
implicitly banning journalists from covering their public functions.
Implementing the ‘accreditation guidelines’ would allow the lawmakers to
escape accountability for their constitutional functions.”
The organization urged the Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of
the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara to “open the windows and let
in the daylight’ of the National Assembly by immediately withdrawing the
accreditation guidelines and allowing journalists to freely cover the
activities of leadership and members of the National Assembly.”
The organization said it would: “pursue national and international legal
action if the unlawful guidelines is not withdrawn by Friday.”
The statement read in part: “These accreditation guidelines are designed
deliberately as barriers against transparency and accountability and
amount to a blatant violation of the rights to freedom of expression,
freedom of information and media freedom.
These are fundamental rights lying at the heart of any system of
democratic governance.”
“The accreditation guidelines clearly run counter to constitutional
provisions and Nigeria’s international human rights obligations and the
notion of free marketplace of ideas, necessary to serve the best
interests of the public.”
“Our constitutional democracy rests on the assumption that the widest
possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic
sources is essential to the welfare of the public, that a free press is
a condition of a free society.”
“A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires access
to information, as ‘sunlight is the best of disinfectants.’ Allowing
journalists to freely cover the activities of the National Assembly
would be the most prominent expression of a commitment to ensuring an
open National Assembly. At the heart of that commitment is the idea that
accountability is in the interest of the lawmakers and the citizenry
alike.”
“Other requirements under the guidelines are circulation of at least
40,000 newspaper copies daily with evidence to support the claimed
figure, evidence of 50,000 daily views in the case of online media and
photocopies of media organisation’s tax return for at least two years.”
“Others include requirements for fresh accreditation are evidence of
membership of professional bodies for media organisation, a functional
bureau in Abuja with staff strength of not less than five editorial
staff publishing daily and on weekend.”