The Nigerian Federal Government on Wednesday requested the House of Representatives to amend an Act that will bring the regulation of online news portals and content providers under the authority of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
Stating that it seeks to regulate digital media in Nigeria, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, told a public hearing organised by the House of Representatives in Abuja on Wednesday that the powers it wants to be empowered to “monitor content, including Twitter.”
The federal government also seeks powers for the National Broadcasting Commission to regulate prices, rates and tariffs imposed by satellite and cable television service providers in the country.
The Minister spoke just as other stakeholders in the media industry also called on the lawmakers to strip him and the NBC several regulatory powers.
The groups also criticised the mode of appointment of the leadership of the NBC and the regulation of the industry especially relating to subscription tariffs, saying it would stifle competition and disallow fair play in the industry.
The House Committee on Information, National Orientation, Ethics and Values had organised the hearing on five bills.
The bill seeking to amend the NBC Act, however, generated controversy at the hearing.
The legislation is titled, ‘A Bill for an Act to Amend the National Broadcasting Act. Cap. N11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, to Strengthen the Commission and Make It More Effective to Regulate Broadcasting in Nigeria, to Provide for Payment of All Monies Received by the Commission into the Federation Account in Accordance with Section 162 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, and Encourage Liberal Openness and Favourable Competition in the Industry’.
In his presentation, Lai Mohammed criticised some sections of the NBC Act amendment bill. “I want to add here specifically that internet broadcasting and all online media should be included in this because we have responsibility to monitor content, including Twitter,” he said.
Mohammed said all digital media entities and news should be included in section two (c) of the bill that proposes to give NBC the powers to “receive, process and consider applications for the establishment, ownership of radio and television stations including…”
If passed, the bill will make online broadcasters register with the NBC before operation as well as act according to the dictates of the regulatory body.
The Minister’s submission comes after the government’s suspension of operations of Twitter in the country.
The government on June 4, 2021, ordered all social media companies and online broadcasters to get a government license before they can operate in Nigeria, following its ban on Twitter operations in the country.
The ban came a few days after Twitter deleted a divisive tweet by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari calling for military action against suspected separatists wreaking havoc in the Southeast.
International community and local activists have condemned the ban, saying it stifles freedom of expression and shrinks the Nigerian civic space.
Opposing the Minister’s submission during the hearing, Akin Akingbulu, Executive Director of the Institute of Media and Societies, said the move by the government would further stifle the civic space.
“The inclusion of the following among categories of broadcasting services licences will be injurious to the civics space, freedom of expression and media freedom in Nigeria,” Akingbulu said.
He said the NBC Act fails to provide for the independence of the NBC, PREMIUM TIMES reported.
He argued that the NBC would be turned into a political tool for repression since it is directly under the ministry of information.
“The power to give directives to the commission, vested in the minister of information in section six should be removed and replaced with powers which include policy formulation for the broadcasting sector, the negotiation of international agreements, notification of the policy direction of government and ensuring that the independence of the commission is protected at all times,” Akingbulu said.
Presenting on behalf of the International Press Centre (IPC) and Centre for Media Law and Advocacy, Lanre Arogundade, the Executive Director of IPC, called for the independence of the NBC, saying its conduct overtime “presents it as an extension of the office of the minister of information.”