Nigerian Press Council seeks regulatory, licensing laws over journalists

The Nigerian Press Council has asked the House of Representatives to pass laws that will empower the council to licence the media in the country.

The request came on Wednesday from the NPC Executive Secretary, Francis Nwosu, who addressed the House of Representatives Committee on Information, National Orientation, Ethics, and Values, arguing that such law would help the council in generating revenue for the Federal Government while curbing unprofessionalism in the industry.

He said, “We appreciate the effort of this committee to help have a good footing in the Nigerian media space. As you can understand, there is no way we can earn any revenue except we have an act to regulate the media industry.

“Aside from the rooting implementation of credible media space in Nigeria to help the government to check fake news and disinformation in the society, we are also trying for our players to understand the need to draw a line between journalism practice and journalism business.

Nwosu said that journalists would need to register with the council which would give them a license to operate to enable the NPC to generate revenue.

“Journalists need to register with the council and have a license to operate. That way, we can have some funds for the coffers of the council,” he said.

“These are the ideas we are thinking can help instead of depending entirely on the Federal Government for revenue. We can generate some amount every year from the registration of journalists and the registration of media houses.

“By this way also, we are also talking about supervising journalism training institutions and ensure that the right things are done in the institutions of learning so that we have well-trained journalists with good professional skills to do the right job for the best interest of the nation.”

(The PUNCH)