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The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that all accredited media organizations in the country, including the African Independent Television (AIT), are free to cover the activities of the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
It however enjoined all media organizations to observe the highest level of professional standards in carrying out their duties.
”There
is a Code of Ethics guiding the practice of journalism in Nigeria, and
this demands every journalist to ensure a strict adherence to the
highest levels of ethics and professionalism in carrying out their
duties.
”There must be repercussions, within
the realms of the law, for media organizations which have wantonly
breached the Code of Ethics of the journalism profession and turned
themselves to partisans instead of professionals. But such repercussions
will not include barring any accredited media organization from
covering the activities of the President-elect,” APC said.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed
National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)
Abuja, April 28th 2015
Meanwhile see PDP...hehehe
Press statement from the PDP on AIT ban, which the APC has since lifted..
Prominent human rights crusader and lawyer, Mr. Ebun Olu-Adegboruwa, has taken a swipe on President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari over the ban placed on the African Independent Television from covering his activities.
The lawyer who recently took the Lagos State Government to court over collection of toll on the Lekki- Ikoyi Bridge described the decision as draconian and dictatorial. He said that under section ”39 of the 1999 Constitution, every person, including AIT, has a right to freedom of expression and that of the press.
He argued that despite the clear position of the Nation newspaper, TV Continental other Nigeria’s Online media against President Goodluck Jonathan’s policies, ”he did not cultivate the habit of denying any media outfit access to cover his events.”
He said that the best thing for the President-Elect is to approach the court if he feels aggrieved over any news item aired by AIT.
Read his position below:
I read with ominous concern, alarm and great worry, the report indicating that the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, stopped the crew of African Independent Television, from covering his official activities, purely on account of documentaries aired by AIT in the course of the just concluded Presidential campaigns.
This is totally unacceptable, unpalatable and dictatorial. It has no place in our new Nigeria.
Indeed under and by virtue of section 39 of the 1999 Constitution, every person, including AIT, has a right to freedom of expression and the press. This is restated in the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. Furthermore, it is contrary to section 42 of the 1999 Constitution, which prohibits discrimination and preferential treatment. AIT cannot be subjected to any treatment to which other news media are not subjected to. This is not to endorse the actions of AIT, but such actions must be dealt with in a manner prescribed by law.
This decision is draconian and dictatorial, throwing us back to the very dark days of 1984, when the same Buhari gaged the press and threw journalists into jail.
This decision is contrary to the manifesto of the All Progressive Congress, it is contrary to the campaign promises of Buhari himself and it is contrary to the laws of Nigeria and the minimum expectations of human development.
In particular, section 22 of the 1999 Constitution demands the press to hold government accountable to the people. How can the press do that, if they are subjected to such Stone Age rule and barrack practice of press guillotine? How can a president elect chose which media outfit he will allow to cover his official engagements?
It is recalled most vividly that the Nation newspaper, TV Continental and not a few of Nigeria’s Online media, human rights activists, lawyers (including myself) subjected President Goodluck Jonathan to rigours of scrutiny and strident criticisms, but he did not cultivate the habit of denying any media outfit access to cover his events.
His last presidential media chat was attended by the editor of Premium Times, a frontline Online medium that was very critical of the Jonathan administration at the time.
In his presentation at Chatam House in London, Buhari specifically gave an express undertaking to the whole world, that he had totally repented from his past dictatorial tendencies and that he would not subject Nigeria to any of his past Undemocratic practices. Yet he has now taken us back to his 1984 years of dictatorship.
If Buhari has issues with any news item aired by AIT, the option open to him in a democratic dispensation, that he openly declared to defend, is to approach the court to vindicate himself. It will be too bad for Nigeria, if the President elect has harboured any form of revenge and unforgiving spirit, from the presidential campaigns and he is using such to deal with the people of Nigeria.
The APC and the President elect are duty bound to respect their campaign promises and indeed the Constitution and other laws of Nigeria.
The president elect has too many issues to deal with in Nigeria presently, than to carry over his wounds from the campaigns. Nigerians are waiting for his cabinet and his blue print for tackling the blackout that we are currently subjected to. Indeed, we are waiting for the president elect to unravel and bring out the trillions of Naira stacked away by so many greedy people, for our common good and development.
I urge the president elect to rescind his decision immediately by opening his activities to the AIT crew.
Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa
28/4/2015
Highly
feared social commentator and film critic, Charles Novia has added his
voice to ongoing war between President-Elect, Muhammadu Buhari and the
Raymond Dokpesi-led African Independent Television (AIT).
Buhari had barred the television station from covering his activities over hate campaigns carried against him before the presidential election.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress, APC, has upturned the decision, affirming that all accredited stations, including the embattled TV station are free to cover Buhari’s activities.
Reacting to the development, Novia noted that he always held the opinion that “freedom of expression will be curtailed by the incoming government.”
The award-winning filmmaker, who posted his opinion on his facebook wall said, “If this report is true, it shows the colouration of Buhari’s government to the press. As a President, you must be tolerant. There’s no REASON to be vindictive to the press. Hasn’t President Jonathan shown a good example by being tolerant and indifferent to all the insults the opposition press hauled at him all these years? Someone should tell Buhari that the year is 2015 and not 1984. If he comes in with a vengeance, he cannot have a focused reign. You don’t screw with the press or freedom of association.
“If any of his goons have issues with AIT or Chief Dokpesi, the Press Council and law courts are there to be utilized. I have said it that freedom of expression will be curtailed in the next government and this will prove my suspicions right
Meanwhile see PDP...hehehe
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described as unacceptable the Monday’s directive by the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to bar a television house, the AIT, from covering his activities, saying the suppression of the media under any guise portends danger for the nation’s democracy.
PDP National Publicity
Secretary, Olisa Metuh in a statement on Tuesday said that after carefully studying
the defence posited by General Buhari’s campaign spokesperson as well as the
smokescreen statement by the APC to cover and mitigate his anti-media posture, the
PDP and indeed all lovers of democracy are persuaded that the action was not
only unjustifiable, but also unconstitutional and completely against the spirit
of liberty and the rule of law in a democracy.
He said “the PDP as a party
that have nurtured the nation’s democracy in the past 16 years cannot afford to
fold its hands and watch the constitutional rights, media freedom and personal
liberty of Nigerians, the basic tenets of democracy being demolished.
“We ask, is this a
beginning of the feared erosion of the freedom and personal liberty the media
and Nigerian citizens have been enjoying in the last 16 years under the PDP
led-administration? Has our dear nation finally fallen into the clutches of totalitarianism
and impunity where government actions will based on egocentric decisions and
impulses of individuals rather than the rule of law?
“While we assure the
President-elect of our resolve to run a mature and responsible opposition based
on issues, we are disturbed by this emerging development and reassure the Nigerian
people that we will continue to stand with them on issues of democracy and
freedom at all times.
“Perhaps, we need to
remind General Buhari that part of the challenge of his new position, even as
President-elect is that he has lost his private life which is now subject to
public scrutiny and media interrogation, as required of the custodian of the
mandate of the Nigerian people.
“The PDP is not oblivious
of the background of the President-elect especially as it relates to the
freedom of the media, but we had thought that having declared to be a converted
democrat, he would make himself amenable to the basic principles of democracy
by following the due process of the law on any circumstance.
“General Buhari may also wish
to be reminded that the Nigerian constitution upon which provisions he emerged
President-elect, also gave the media powers to cover activities of public office
holders while at the same time providing legal avenues for redress in the event
of any violation. If the right of the President-elect was in anyway violated by
the AIT or any media house for that matter, he is expected to act within the
law and seek redress in the courts otherwise one would have no option than to
conclude that he is out for personal vendetta.
“The APC and the
President-elect may have one or two lessons to pick from President Goodluck
Jonathan, who though the most maligned and abused President in the history of
our nation, even by the APC, allowed his actions to be sufficiently guided by
humility, tolerance and the rule of law”, the PDP said.
The party called on
Nigerians not to despair but remain steadfast and unite in resisting any
anti-democratic tendencies intended to instill fear in them and set the stage
for a dictatorial order and the erosion of their personal freedom and liberty
as citizens, which they have been enjoying in the last 16 years under the PDP.
Signed:
Olisa Metuh
National Publicity Secretary
See others ooooo..hehehe
Prominent human rights crusader and lawyer, Mr. Ebun Olu-Adegboruwa, has taken a swipe on President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari over the ban placed on the African Independent Television from covering his activities.
The lawyer who recently took the Lagos State Government to court over collection of toll on the Lekki- Ikoyi Bridge described the decision as draconian and dictatorial. He said that under section ”39 of the 1999 Constitution, every person, including AIT, has a right to freedom of expression and that of the press.
He argued that despite the clear position of the Nation newspaper, TV Continental other Nigeria’s Online media against President Goodluck Jonathan’s policies, ”he did not cultivate the habit of denying any media outfit access to cover his events.”
He said that the best thing for the President-Elect is to approach the court if he feels aggrieved over any news item aired by AIT.
Read his position below:
I read with ominous concern, alarm and great worry, the report indicating that the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, stopped the crew of African Independent Television, from covering his official activities, purely on account of documentaries aired by AIT in the course of the just concluded Presidential campaigns.
This is totally unacceptable, unpalatable and dictatorial. It has no place in our new Nigeria.
Indeed under and by virtue of section 39 of the 1999 Constitution, every person, including AIT, has a right to freedom of expression and the press. This is restated in the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. Furthermore, it is contrary to section 42 of the 1999 Constitution, which prohibits discrimination and preferential treatment. AIT cannot be subjected to any treatment to which other news media are not subjected to. This is not to endorse the actions of AIT, but such actions must be dealt with in a manner prescribed by law.
This decision is draconian and dictatorial, throwing us back to the very dark days of 1984, when the same Buhari gaged the press and threw journalists into jail.
This decision is contrary to the manifesto of the All Progressive Congress, it is contrary to the campaign promises of Buhari himself and it is contrary to the laws of Nigeria and the minimum expectations of human development.
In particular, section 22 of the 1999 Constitution demands the press to hold government accountable to the people. How can the press do that, if they are subjected to such Stone Age rule and barrack practice of press guillotine? How can a president elect chose which media outfit he will allow to cover his official engagements?
It is recalled most vividly that the Nation newspaper, TV Continental and not a few of Nigeria’s Online media, human rights activists, lawyers (including myself) subjected President Goodluck Jonathan to rigours of scrutiny and strident criticisms, but he did not cultivate the habit of denying any media outfit access to cover his events.
His last presidential media chat was attended by the editor of Premium Times, a frontline Online medium that was very critical of the Jonathan administration at the time.
In his presentation at Chatam House in London, Buhari specifically gave an express undertaking to the whole world, that he had totally repented from his past dictatorial tendencies and that he would not subject Nigeria to any of his past Undemocratic practices. Yet he has now taken us back to his 1984 years of dictatorship.
If Buhari has issues with any news item aired by AIT, the option open to him in a democratic dispensation, that he openly declared to defend, is to approach the court to vindicate himself. It will be too bad for Nigeria, if the President elect has harboured any form of revenge and unforgiving spirit, from the presidential campaigns and he is using such to deal with the people of Nigeria.
The APC and the President elect are duty bound to respect their campaign promises and indeed the Constitution and other laws of Nigeria.
The president elect has too many issues to deal with in Nigeria presently, than to carry over his wounds from the campaigns. Nigerians are waiting for his cabinet and his blue print for tackling the blackout that we are currently subjected to. Indeed, we are waiting for the president elect to unravel and bring out the trillions of Naira stacked away by so many greedy people, for our common good and development.
I urge the president elect to rescind his decision immediately by opening his activities to the AIT crew.
Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa
28/4/2015
Buhari had barred the television station from covering his activities over hate campaigns carried against him before the presidential election.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress, APC, has upturned the decision, affirming that all accredited stations, including the embattled TV station are free to cover Buhari’s activities.
Reacting to the development, Novia noted that he always held the opinion that “freedom of expression will be curtailed by the incoming government.”
The award-winning filmmaker, who posted his opinion on his facebook wall said, “If this report is true, it shows the colouration of Buhari’s government to the press. As a President, you must be tolerant. There’s no REASON to be vindictive to the press. Hasn’t President Jonathan shown a good example by being tolerant and indifferent to all the insults the opposition press hauled at him all these years? Someone should tell Buhari that the year is 2015 and not 1984. If he comes in with a vengeance, he cannot have a focused reign. You don’t screw with the press or freedom of association.
“If any of his goons have issues with AIT or Chief Dokpesi, the Press Council and law courts are there to be utilized. I have said it that freedom of expression will be curtailed in the next government and this will prove my suspicions right
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