By Sunny Anderson Osiebe...
The House of Representatives has passed for second reading a
piece of legislation seeking to legalize media coverage of courts
proceedings in the country. The Bill which was read the second time on
the floor of the House during plenary session on Wednesday, January 25,
2017 seeks to grant the Press access to Judicial proceedings for the
purposes of gathering and disseminating news from the courts to the
public. The sponsor of the Bill Hon. Daniel Reyenieju, while leading the
debate on the general principles of the Bill stated that the aim of the
Bill is to encourage openness and transparency in the way and manner
judicial proceedings are conducted.
He
stated that at a time when the confidence of the citizens in the
judiciary is sitting in limbo fueled by allegations of corruption which
has grossly instigated biases and misconceptions of the nation's Justice
System, there is need for the public to be kept abreast of happenings
in the courts. Besides, he argued that not every common person in the
society can afford the time and means to be in courts for purpose of
observing firsthand what transpires in the courts, allowing the media to
harness such information and inform the public accordingly would be a
step in the right direction.
Hon. Reyenieju
added that the judiciary appears to be the only arm of government which
does not grant live coverage of courts proceedings and wondered why that
should be the case in a democracy. He prayed the House to expedite
action on the passage of the Bill so that the Nigeria public and by
extension the international community would also be well informed as
well as participate during courts proceedings, especially when the case
is of public importance.
In another
development, the House passed a resolution mandating its Committee on
Agricultural Production and Services to move quickly to investigate the
report of a resurgence of Avian Influenza popularly known as Bird Flu in
26 States of the Federation. The resolution came on the heel of a
motion calling for investigation of the reports of returning of Bird flu
across the country moved by Hon. Sergius Ose Ogun. He prayed the
Chamber to direct also that the relevant Committee should find out the
measures taken by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development to stem the spread of the Flu.
He
further charged the Committee to ensure that due process is followed to
pay compensations to farmers who have been greatly affected by outbreak
of the flu.
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