NPAN to Govs: Domesticate FOI Act now

The Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria has urged governors of the 36 states of the federation to domesticate the Freedom of Information Act recently signed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan.

The National President of NPAN, Prince Nduka Obaigbena, who made the call on behalf of the association, said domesticating the crucial Act in the states would make it more effective.

Obaigbena made this comment while speaking on ‘The Role of the Media in National transformation’ at a two-day retreat organized by the Peoples Democratic Party for the President, Vice President, governors and National Assembly members-elect in Abuja on Saturday.

Obaigbena, who is the Publisher of ThisDay Newspaper, said the FOI Act would achieve its target objective of fighting the scourge of corruption in the country if embraced by the state governors.

Already, the governors of Plateau and Niger states, Jonah Jang and Dr. Babangida Aliu, have declared their readiness to embrace the Act in their sates.

Nduka, who hailed the signing of the bill into an Act as a milestone in media management since the nation’s independence in 1960, promised the readiness of NPAN to protect the integrity of the media.

He explained that the committee, headed by Justice Morenikeji Onalolaja, was constituted to instill corrective measures in the media and urged those with complaints to direct them to the committee.

Obaigbena, who urged President Goodluck Jonathan to commence a process of reconciliation in the country, advised him to include the media in the decision making process of the government.