The National Media Complaints Commission (NMCC), otherwise known as the Ombudsman, has ruled that the Daily Trust Newspaper’s July 4, 2024 front page story titled “LGBT: Nigeria Signs $150 Billion Samoa Deal” breached media professional standards as the publication contained inaccurate and misleading information.
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It has therefore directed the newspaper to take remedial action, including publishing an apology in its print and online versions.
In a 16-page document issued on Monday, on a complaint lodged before it by the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, on behalf of the Federal Government, on July 8, 2024 over the publication, the nine-member independent co-regulatory body held that the newspaper’s story was not, accurate, balanced, and fair.
The report, the Ombudsman said, fell short of the standards required in the journalism profession as contained in the Revised Code of Conduct for Nigerian Journalists, 2022.
The Daily Trust newspaper, had in its July 4, 2024 report, alleged that the Federal Government had signed a European Union (EU) partnership agreement (referred to as the “Samoa Agreement”) with member states of the Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS), despite some conditional clauses that compel benefiting nations to support the agitations by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) community for recognition.
However, in a letter to the NMCC, dated July 8, 2024, and signed by Dr. Ngozi Onwudiwe, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, on behalf of the Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, the government complained that the report contained “false and misleading” information and that as a result of the alleged false report, “individuals and government officials have been subjected to hate speech, threats, intimidation, and cyber bullying across social media.” Following the complaint, the NMCC appointed a complaints’ committee, made up of some of its members, to examine the complaint.
The Committee decided to adopt a “Documents-Only” review procedure in addressing the issue and accordingly dispensed with the need for an oral hearing. In a bid to give both parties fair hearing, it requested for relevant documents from the Complainant and the Respondent.
In all, the Complainant submitted three documents, while the Respondent presented 13 documents to the Committee. After an exhaustive review of the complaint and the various documents submitted by the parties, the Committee produced a draft report, which was subjected to further review and deliberation by the entire body.
The NMCC subsequently adopted a final report in which it noted, among other things, that contrary to the newspaper’s reporting, the 403- page Samoa Agreement does not contain any clause that compels underdeveloped and developing nations to support the agitations by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) community for recognition, as a condition for getting financial and other supports from the European nations, and that there is no reference whatsoever in the Agreement to the issue of LGBTQ.
Accordingly, the NMCC directed that the Daily Trust should do the following:
*Accept without equivocation that its reporting on the issue in question was inaccurate and misleading as its treatment of the report showed a lapse in news judgement and fell short of the expected standards of the 2022 Revised Code of Ethics for Nigerian Journalists.
*Publish an apology prominently in both the print and online editions of the Daily Trust.
*Take the necessary internal editorial measures to prevent a future occurrence and *Publish the report of the NMCC in this matter within seven days of receiving it.
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