NPO to inaugurate complaints commission - ITREALMS

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The Nigerian media has advanced plans to inaugurate on Monday, the nine-member board of the National Media Complaints Commission (NMCC), also known as the National Ombudsman, reports ITREALMS.

The process driven by the Nigeria Press Organisation (NPO) would see members of the commission drawn from the media, the bar, the academia, and civil society to be inaugurated.

Members of the NMCC chaired by Mr. Emeka Izeze, former Managing Director, Guardian Newspapers, includes a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. A. B Mahmoud; Deputy Vice Chancellor, (Academics) Paul University, Awka, Anambra State, Prof Chinyere Stella Okunna; Dr. Hussain Abdu, a Development Specialist and Country Director, Care International (Nigeria); Mr. Lanre Idowu, Editor-in-Chief, Diamond Publications Ltd. and Founder, Diamond Awards For Media Excellence (DAME); Mr. Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Mrs. Dupe Ajayi-Gbadebo, FNGE, a Journalist, Lawyer and Arbitrator ; Mrs. Eugenia Abu, Broadcaster, Author, and Columnist, and the Chair, House of Representatives Committee on Information.

President, NPO, Malam Kabiru A. Yusuf in a press statement available to 
ITREALMS on Friday night, said the inauguration is a major step by the industry to strengthen public confidence in the media through prompt resolution of issues bordering on ethical breaches in media content.

He reiterated that the process led by NPO comprises the Newspaper Proprietors' Association of Nigeria (NPAN), the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), and the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), with strategic partnership with he MacArthur Foundation.

"The commission will serve as an independent forum for resolving complaints about the press quickly, fairly, and free of charge; maintain high standards of Nigerian Journalism and journalistic ethics; and defend the freedom of the press and the rights of the people to know," he said.

Yusuf, recalled that prior to the February 22, 2023 announcement of the composition of the commission, each media house had been directed to institute at the newspaper level, the local Ombudsman. The National Ombudsman will serve as an appellate body for the local Ombudsman as well as a court of first instance.