SERAP Issues a 48-Hour Notice To Tinubu To Lift The Ban On Media Organisations And Journalists Covering Aso Rock

“To prevent these journalists and media houses from covering the Presidential Villa is to prevent them from carrying out their legitimate constitutional responsibility,” the organisation claimed in a letter dated August 26, 2023.

President Bola Tinubu has been requested by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) to use his “good offices and leadership position to immediately reverse the unlawful ban on 25 journalists and media houses from covering the presidential villa and restore the accreditation of those affected.”

“To publicly instruct the officials in the presidential villa to permit journalists and media outlets to freely do their jobs and discharge their constitutional duty of holding those in power to account,” SERAP urged him.

The organisation made the request in a letter that was available to Channels Television on Sunday and was signed by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare.

SERAP observed that 25 journalists’ accreditations to cover events in the Presidential Villa in Abuja had reportedly been revoked recently by the Federal Government.

According to the report, the Vanguard, Galaxy TV, Ben TV, MITV, ITV Abuja, PromptNews, ONTV, and Liberty are among the journalists who have been banned.

“To prevent these journalists and media houses from covering the Presidential Villa is to prevent them from carrying out their legitimate constitutional responsibility,” the organisation claimed in a letter dated August 26, 2023.

“Your administration cannot prohibit media from covering public events in one fell swoop. If media outlets are prohibited from entering the seat of government, citizens’ access to knowledge and participation would be meaningless.

“Media freedom is a pillar of democracy in Nigeria, and journalists must have the freedom to hold the government accountable. This issue is of general interest. The media cannot be hand-picked by the government to cover its events.

“We would appreciate it if the suggested actions were to be taken within 48 hours of the receipt and/or publication of this letter,” the letter continued. If by then we have not heard from you, SERAP will consider taking the necessary legal action to compel your government to abide by our request in the interest of the public.

“Nigerians may view your government’s ambivalence towards media freedom, as well as the rights of citizens to access information and participate in their own government, as evidenced by the expulsion of the journalists from the presidential villa.”

“Any alleged’security concerns and overcrowding of the press gallery area’ are outweighed by the legal obligations imposed on your government to ensure and uphold media freedom and human rights, and to facilitate public access to the presidential villa as a public trust.”

The cornerstones of a democratic and law-based society are freedom of the press, information availability, and citizen participation in local government matters.

“The removal of these journalists’ accreditation tags immediately infringes on media freedom and other human rights, such as the right of access to information and the ability to participate. It could result in self-censorship and have a substantial chilling effect on news gathering and reporting activities.

“The withdrawal of the journalists’ credentials would put barriers in the way of Nigerians’ constitutionally guaranteed access to specific information about the workings of their government.”

An open and accountable government cannot exist without media freedom, information access, and the right to participate. These liberties are so essential to democracy that they take precedence above any flimsy justifications such as “security concerns and overcrowding of the press gallery area.”

“Your constitutional oath of office to defend the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] is consistent with the effective exercise of media freedom, access to information, and citizens’ rights to participate in their government in preserving and contributing to a free and democratic society.”

The public interest would be served and the dependability of information available to the public would be improved by allowing the media to cover the presidential villa.

According to reports, your government used the excuse of “an internal attempt to reduce the bloated number of print photographers and overcrowding in the State House” to justify this serious constitutional violation.

‘Security concerns made by State House employees and visiting dignitaries over the overcrowding of the press gallery area that restricts the walking path to the President’s Office,’ according to your government, were also mentioned.

According to our information, your government stopped about 25 journalists and media outlets from covering events at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on August 18, 2023.

The journalists from the Vanguard newspaper, Galaxy TV, Ben TV, MITV, ITV Abuja, PromptNews, ONTV, and Liberty are reportedly among those who have been blacklisted. The majority of the reporters and cameramen from broadcast, print, and internet media publications are among the additional media professionals impacted by the withdrawal.

The impacted journalists were just instructed to turn in their accreditation tags at the presidential villa’s main gate.

SERAP is worried that stripping 25 journalists’ credentials to cover the presidential villa violates both the Nigerian Constitution and the nation’s international duties to uphold human rights.

Our requests are made in the interest of the general public, in accordance with the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as amended), and in compliance with Nigeria’s obligations under international law, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which it is a state party.

“The press, radio, television, and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this Chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people,” according to section 22 of the Nigerian Constitution.

“The participation of the people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution,” states Section 14(2)(c) of the Constitution.

The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which states in Article 9 that “Every Person Shall Have The Right To Receive Information,’ is similar. Every person is entitled to the freedom to express and spread their thoughts.

Every citizen has the right to freely participate in the government of his country, according to Article 13 of the Constitution. Every citizen has the right to equal access to his country’s public services. Every person shall be entitled to access to public facilities and services.

Similar provisions are found in Articles 19 and 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The right to freedom of the press, access to information, and the ability of the people to participate in their own government are all rights that SERAP wants you to uphold.