The International Press Institute (IPI), which is located in Vienna, has encouraged the new administration, which will take office on May 29, to improve circumstances for media organisations and journalists.
IPI said this on 2023 International Press Freedom Day.
In Abuja Wednesday, IPI Nigeria president Musikilu Mojeed claimed media and journalist abuse has increased in recent years.
IPI claimed these breaches include arrests, physical attacks, denial of access, threats, equipment damage, equipment confiscation, litigation, and government agency high-handedness and arbitrariness.
The institution claimed Nigerian journalists are under constant danger and asked the new administration to improve the media’s working environment consciously.
It stated criminal defamation and cybercrime laws should be modified.
“The government should also initiate mass sensitisation of its security forces, who must recognise that journalists and the media are vital aspects of democracy,” the statement continues.
“While state actors, especially state governors, must end intimidation and harassment of journalists, Nigerian politicians and political parties should also stop using online trolls to attack journalists and media organisations for upholding the people’s right to know and holding governments, individuals, and organisations accountable.
“The new administration, led by Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, must also take intentional efforts to enable media outlets survive while preserving press freedom and free speech.”
As desirable as the Freedom of Information Act is, journalists have yet to be able to fully use it to hold public officials responsible since government officials continue to play pranks to deny them the information they seek, IPI Nigeria stated.
“Section 2 (1) of the Act stipulates, ‘A public institution should guarantee that it records and preserves information on all its activities, operations and business.’
“This provision is being violated. Subsections 2–4 require public institutions to make public documents accessible to information seekers. They were also disregarded.
Articles 22 and 39 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution guarantee free speech and press.
“The press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media should at all times be free to promote the basic objectives established in this Chapter and uphold the duty and accountability of the Government to the people,” according to Section 22. ‘Every individual should be entitled to freedom of speech, including the right to have opinions and to receive and transmit ideas and information without interference,’ states Section 39, which is connected to Section 22.
According to IPI Nigeria, the next administration must also fully execute the FOI Act.
It said that open knowledge is important to democracy’s existence and evolution.
“When authorities conceal facts that typically should be made available to the public, misinformation and disinformation grow more robustly,” the statement said.
