The Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) has issued a clarification on the statement released by three media houses – Nigerian Tribune, Peoples Daily and New Telegraph – on the payment of compensation to the media houses that were affected by the disruption of the circulation of their newspapers by armed soldiers in several cities.
The three newspapers had released separate statements on Friday night that they did not receive compensation from government through NPAN for the disruption of the circulation of their newspapers by the military as explained in a letter to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by the NPAN President and Chairman/Editor in Chief of THISDAY, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena.
The three newspapers were among the 13 media houses that “demanded compensation for the brutal and unlawful seizure of newspapers and stoppage of circulation by armed soldiers in Abuja and several cities.”
To avert a class lawsuit against the military and the federal government, a compensation of N120 million was released by government to NPAN to be shared among the affected media houses.
NPAN, in a statement issued on Saturday and signed by its Executive Secretary, Feyi Smith, to clarify the issue, recalled a meeting of NPAN executive council of March 17, 2015, held at the offices of Daily Trust, Abuja, where it was resolved to accept the N120million compensation and also passed two other resolutions.
The two resolutions passed according to the statement were: “that each member- organisation accepts to donate N1million from the compensation to the Association for the up-keep of the Secretariat” and “that members should bring their membership account current, by paying all past dues to the Secretariat before collecting their cheques.”
While stating that the cheques for the Nigerian Tribune and Peoples’ Daily remain in the Secretariat awaiting collection, the statement noted that in the case of New Telegraph, the Secretariat was confronted with a situation where 13 Newspapers made claims while compensation for 12 newspapers was made.It however added that Blueprint Newspapers which was inadvertently omitted from the list had since been paid.
The statement further explained that “when New Telegraph now demanded for (its own) payment that had been collected by Blueprint Newspapers, the secretariat then brought the matter to the attention of the (NPAN) President, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, who then called Governor Orji Kalu , the Publisher of both the Sun Newspapers (who had been paid) and the New Telegraph (which has not been paid), to urge him to be patient for the matter to be tabled at the next Executive Council meeting, where he would seek the approval of the EXCO to take the funds earmarked for the Secretariat to pay them.”
Below is the full text of the statement issued by NPAN on the Payment of Compensation to the media houses that were affected by the disruption of the circulation of their newspapers by the military:
“Clarification To Statements By The Nigerian Tribune, Peoples’ Daily And New Telegraph
“Our attention has been drawn to statements issued last night by the Nigerian Tribune, Peoples’ Daily and New Telegraph Newspapers claiming that they did not receive the compensation for the military disruption of circulation of newspapers by the Federal Government.
“It should be recalled that the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) Executive Council meeting of March 17, 2015, held at the offices of Daily Trust, Abuja, resolved to accept the N120million compensation and passed two other resolutions thereto:
“(1) that each member- organisation accepts to donate N1million from the compensation to the Association for the up-keep of the Secretariat;
“(2) that members should bring their membership account current, by paying all past dues to the Secretariat before collecting their cheques.
“The cheques for the Nigerian Tribune and Peoples’ Daily remain in the Secretariat awaiting collection.
“In the case of New Telegraph, the Secretariat was confronted with a situation where 13 Newspapers made claims while compensation for 12 newspapers was made. Blueprint Newspapers which was inadvertently omitted from the list has since been paid.
“When New Telegraph now demanded payment that had been collected by Blueprint Newspapers, the secretariat then brought the matter to the attention of the of the President, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, who then called Governor Orji Kalu , the Publisher of both the Sun Newspapers (who had been paid) and the New Telegraph (which has not been paid), to urge him to be patient for the matter to be tabled at the next Executive Council meeting, where he would seek the approval of the EXCO to take the funds earmarked for the Secretariat to pay them.
“Thank you.
“Feyi Smith, Executive Secretary
December 12, 2015”