nigeria: critical role of the media in election process

TEXT OF PRESS CONFERENCE
by:
The Media for Democracy in Nigeria (MFD) Group And CREDO
On Equitable Access to the Broadcast Media by all Political Parties

At the International Press Centre Lagos 11-03-03

INTRODUCTION

The press is called as part of a process to develop principles and guidelines for equitable access by the various political parties to the broadcast media during this period of electioneering campaigns and beyond.

The project is being implemented by the Media for Democracy Group in Nigeria (MFD) comprising Media Rights Agenda (MRA), the Independent Journalism Centre (IJC), Journalists for Democratic Rights (JODER), and the International Press Centre (IPC), in collaboration with an international non-governmental organisation, CREDO for Freedom of Expression and Associated Rights, which is based in Dakar and London.

Following the advocacy and legal victory that led to the existence of the current 30 political parties in Nigeria, it has become critically important to review the role of the media, especially the broadcast media, in the electoral process. This is imperative given the capacity of the media and, in particular, the broadcast media to influence and shape public opinion.

The failure to carry out such a process in the past has led to violent conflicts triggered in part by the use of broadcast media to undermine election outcomes and democratic principles. The “Verdict 83” election programme on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), for instance, attracted a lot of criticism for its highly partisan coverage of the 1983 elections in favour of the incumbent National Party of Nigeria (NPN) government. The importance of avoiding a repeat of such a scenario cannot be overstated considering Nigeria’s recent political history since the June 12, 1993 elections and the lessons learnt from events in other African countries such as Sierra Leone, Liberia, Zimbabwe and Cote D’Ivoire.

A major cause of this problem is the tendency by those in power at both the federal and state levels to view the public broadcasting stations as the propaganda arms of their governments and, therefore, to use them to advance partisan or personal interests while preventing access to these media by other stakeholders, including opponents and opposition parties.

We believe that the broadcast media, particularly the publicly funded media, have an obligation not to biased in their coverage of the political process, and in particular to give all parties equitable access as part of their social responsibilities to the society.

Since the government has neglected to carry out necessary reforms, the civil society has to live up to its role of safeguarding of democratic principles, including ensuring an open, accountable, transparent and democratic electoral process.

The partners in this project propose to organize a one-day conference in Abuja later this month in an effort to develop an agreed set of standards for the coverage of the electioneering process by the broadcast media. Participants at the conference will include: representatives (management or senior editorial staff) of the NTA and the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) at the federal and zonal levels; representatives (management or senior editorial staff) of public broadcast media (radio and television) at state level; representatives of key private/independent media; representatives of all the 30 political parties; representatives of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); representatives of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC); representatives of other various journalist associations and media bodies; as well as other stakeholders.

KEY ISSUES

Broadly speaking, the key issues which need to addressed are as follows:

1) How the editorial orientation and policies of the publicly funded broadcast media (radio and television) at the federal level, i.e. the NTA and the FRCN, can be reviewed in order to ensure that they do not deny other political parties democratic visibility and that they are not used as mere propaganda arms of the ruling party.

2) How the editorial orientation and policies of the publicly funded broadcast media (radio and television) controlled by the 36 state governments can be reviewed in order to ensure that they do not deny other political parties democratic visibility and that they are not used as mere propaganda arms of the ruling parties in the states.

Specifically, we propose to table the following issues for discussion and, if possible, seek agreement on them by all stakeholders attending the conference:

i. That all publicly funded broadcast media must, as part of their social responsibilities, commit themselves to giving regular and free air time to voter education programmes covering issues such as the voting process, venues, time of elections, the political parties and candidates running for elections.

ii. That a limited number of brief and free slots for electoral campaign broadcasts be given to all political parties to outline their programmes and candidates for federal, state and local government elections. This is vital to voter education and will ensure that at least all parties and candidates are given the minimum visibility necessary for genuine democracy. This will be particularly important during the last month of the campaigns.

iii. That a ceiling be placed on the total number of election campaign broadcasts that any one political party and its candidates can run over the period of the campaigns. This will prevent the outright buying of the elections by parties backed by richer members of society to the detriment of the poorer parties.

iv. That no discounts be given to any one political party for paid election campaign broadcasts and that if discounts are given, they should not be selective, but should be across board and done in a fair and transparent manner.

v. That all campaign adverts must be ethical, decent and must avoid incitement, hate speech, and defamation.

vi. That campaign adverts of any political party must not be rejected to the advantage of another party. Adverts may only be rejected if they fail to satisfy the requirements stated in Paragraph v. above.

vii. That there must be a right of reply and correction for candidates that may have been defamed.

viii. That the publicly owned media should not to be used by incumbent political parties to attack other political parties, and in particular that government and party officials must not intervene in or undermine the editorial independence of the broadcast media. This will also cover opinion polls and election projections.

ix. That the safety, physical security and job security of journalists, editorial and management staff of public and private media houses that exercise the right to editorial independence from political intervention must be guaranteed.

x. That the principles of fairness, balance and equitable news coverage of political party campaign activities be observed especially during major news broadcasts. This should include distinguishing between government activities and campaigns.

xi. That there should be fair, balanced and equitable coverage of election debates.

xii. That there should be no broadcast of any speculative results that may truncate the will of the electorate and lead to conflict or violence based on electoral disputes. Any results broadcast should at a minimum be based on results obtained from polling stations and agreed by agents of all parties present.

xiii. That disputed results should not be broadcast in such a manner that is inflammatory and could lead to violent conflict.

These issues are based on universally agreed standards for election coverage and the principles of relevant international instruments to which Nigeria subscribes.

In the interim, we are constrained to condemn the widespread commercialization of political news, which we find unprofessional and unethical and hereby call on media houses and individual journalists to desist from such a practice.

We also urge the editorial or management staff of publicly or privately owned broadcast media organisations in the country to discontinue their involvement in the campaign activities of any political party, particularly their inclusion on the campaign teams of political parties or candidates.

Media organisations must also ensure that all advertorials are clearly marked as such. Sponsors of adverts must be named or mentioned.

We believe that the media and in particular the publicly funded broadcast media must not be used to undermine the democratic process, and therefore call upon all political parties, government officials, INEC, the NBC, the broadcast and print media, professional associations and unions within the media, and the rest of civil society to join us in preventing such an occurrence.

Signed:

Edetaen Ojo
Media Rights Agenda
Executive Director

Sola Isola
Executive Director
Independent Journalism Centre

Adewale Adeoye
Chairman
Journalists for Democratic Rights

Tunde Aremu
MIS Manager
International Press Centre

All for the
Media for Democracy Group in Nigeria
Contact: International Press Centre Lagos
42 Ijaye Rd Ikeja Lagos
Tel/Fax: 234-1-4921292, 234-1-4925568
email- [email protected]

And

Rotimi Sankore
Coordinator
CREDO for Freedom of Expression and Associated Rights

Ends

For further information, contact our International Office:
Centre for Research Education & Development Of
- [CREDO]- Freedom of Expression & Associated Rights.
73-75 Newington Causeway
London SE1 6BD, UK
Tel: + 44 20 77875501
Fax:+ 44 20 77875502
E-mail: Media – [email protected] , General – [email protected]

CREDO is an International human rights organisation based in Senegal and London and focusing on work in Africa. CREDO believes that freedom of expression and other strongly associated rights, are major platforms on which all civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights stand. CREDO further believes that “without distinction of any kind such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status” everyone is entitled to these rights as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights, The African Charter on Peoples and Human Rights and other similar documents.