…says move a terrible draconian law
A former Governor of Ogun State, Olusegun Osoba has charged journalists in the country to resist the proposed amendment of the Nigeria Press Council Act by the National Assembly.
He said in an interview with Punch that such a move is worse than draconian law by the military.
“It is a terrible draconian law. It has never happened in the history of Nigeria that a law as sweeping as this will be proposed. Not even under the military was this done,” he said.
While speaking on Decree 4, he said that Decree 4 was restricted to the disclosure of sources of information.
“The one they are proposing now includes obtaining a licence before you can build a press hub. You have to obtain a licence. It says before you can even begin printing a newspaper, you must obtain a licence. It is far-reaching and sweeping,” he said.
On whether the new amendment means that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime has a hidden agenda to undermine the freedom of the press, he explained that “Press freedom is never awarded. Over the years, we have always fought for the right to practice. We have been fighting the press council issue for over 25 years.
I remember what led to the Nigerian Press Organisation and the production of a code of conduct for journalists. It was because attempts were made in the 1970s to set up a regulatory body for the print media. We resisted it and we have to continue resisting it.
On Twitter’s suspension, he maintained that “We will continue to resist it.
This will not be the beginning or the end of measures by different governments to want to contain and control the media.
We will be the ones to continue to resist such. I have been in detention many times in the past all because of the news I wrote.
None of my stories have ever been denied, but governments all over the world will want to hide under security threats to do what they do. We are the ones that must continue to show that what we are doing is helping the nation and making sure that there is restraint on the part of those in authority.