Barely 24 hours after the Management of the National Assembly (NASS), revoked the accreditation of Media organizations covering the activities of the both Chambers and came up with stringent guidelines for fresh accreditations which sparked off controversies, the Clerk to the National Assembly, CNA, Alhaji Sani Omolori and the Chairman of the National Assembly, who is also the President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki on Tuesday disowned the new guidelines.
NASS Director of Information and Publication, Mr Rawlings Agada had on Monday issued the unauthorised guidelines which said would take effect from June. 11 this year but which the duo disowned yesterday.
It gathered that Omolori who held a meeting with the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives Press Corps yesterday apologised for the embarrassment caused by the unapproved memo and ordered its immediate suspended indefinitely.
In a related development, Senator Bukola Saraki through his Special Assistant on New Media, Olu Onemola denied knowledge of the draconian regulation credited to Agada and ordered an investigation into the embarrassing memo.
Onemola stated that his principal remained committed to the freedom of the press and was not aware of the development.
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Responding in a series of tweets about the alleged new guidelines for journalists in the National Assembly, Onemola stated that Saraki’s antecedents as the Chairman of the 8th National Assembly showed that he had always believed in the right of Journalists to operate unhindered in order to promote transparency.
The New Media aide also emphasized that the purported issuance of the controversial guidelines would be promptly investigated.
He tweeted:
“The attention of the President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has just been drawn to a story that is circulating on social media about the National Assembly issuing new guidelines to journalists.
“These alleged guidelines have not emanated from either the Senate President or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara and will be promptly investigated.
“The public should note that the 8th National Assembly has been committed to the freedom of the press as exemplified by its work to bring governance closer to the people through live streams and live tweets.
“This is because the leadership of the 8th National Assembly believes strongly in the freedom of the press and in carrying the Nigerian public along. Hence, the Senate President and all his colleagues will continue to work to ensure that these freedoms remain unhindered.”
Also, findings from the Commands of the various Security Agencies at the NASS, including the Nigeria Police, Department of State Services, DSS, Nigeria Immigration, Military, Nigeria Security and Civil Defense, NSCD and others revealed that the memo was neither discussed nor approved at any formal or informal meeting before it was released.
According to a Police Officer who spoke with the Nigerian in confidence, “honestly, we too became aware of the guidelines through Media reports, this against the normal practice in the past.”
“But the good news that the controversial guidelines have been put on hold and the management is resolving the controversies surrounding it.”
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