The National Media Complaints Commission (NMCC), also known as the Ombudsman, Monday released the report of its investigation into a complaint made to it against the Daily Trust by the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation.
The commission, in its 19-page report, said after scrutinising the complaint of the government, as well as the response of the newspaper, which it had sought and obtained, found the Daily Trust story complained about as “inaccurate”.
The NMCC, however, also accused the federal government of poor handling of issues around the Samoa Agreement it signed, stating that had the government demonstrated “greater openness, transparency and accountability” in dealing with matters relating to the deal, “the attendant conjectures and speculations about the content of the Samoa Agreement could have been avoided.”
The ombudsman, nonetheless, asked the Daily Trust to issue an apology for the inaccuracies in its report on the Samoa Agreement.
The NMCC, chaired by Emeka Izeze, former Managing Director of The Guardian, has among its members, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr A. B. Mahmoud (SAN); a Deputy Vice Chancellor of Paul University, Awka, Anambra State, Prof. Chinyere Stella Okunna; the Editor-in-Chief of Diamond Publication, Mr Lanre Idowu; and the Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Mr Edetaen Ojo.
Other members of the body are Mrs. Dupe Ajayi-Gbadebo, a journalist, lawyer and arbitrator; Mrs. Eugenia Abu, broadcaster, author, columnist and former Executive Director, Programmes at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA); and Dr. Hussain Abdu, the Country Director of Care International (Nigeria).
In its verdict, the NMCC ruled that Daily Trust failed to meet journalistic standards as stipulated in the 2022 Revised Code of Ethics for Nigerian Journalists, stressing that the newspaper’s report complained about, which was published on July 4, 2024, was found to be inaccurate, particularly in suggesting that the Samoa Agreement contained provisions relating to the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) rights.
The government’s original complaint, submitted by Dr Ngozi Onwudiwe, Permanent Secretary of the information ministry alleged that the report posed a threat to national security.
In its ruling, the Ombudsman found that the article complained about was inaccurate, and that it violated Article 2.1 of the Revised Code of Journalism Ethics, 2022.
It, therefore, directed Daily Trust to issue an apology in both its print and online editions, and that it should take internal editorial steps to prevent future occurrence.
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