The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against President Bola Tinubu over the alleged unlawful ban and withdrawal of accreditations from 25 journalists and media houses covering activities at the Presidential Villa.
This legal action comes after SERAP issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Federal Government to reverse the ban, which expired without resolution.
SERAP has called on President Tinubu to publicly instruct officials in the Presidential Villa to allow journalists and media houses to freely carry out their constitutional duty of holding those in power accountable.
The ban, implemented by the Federal Government on August 18, 2023, affected media personnel from various outlets, including Vanguard newspaper, Galaxy TV, Ben TV, MITV, ITV Abuja, PromptNews, ONTV, and Liberty.
In the lawsuit, filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, SERAP seeks a court order to compel President Tinubu to reverse the withdrawal of accreditations and the ban on journalists and media houses from covering the Presidential Villa.
The organization also requests a perpetual injunction restraining any authority or individual from arbitrarily revoking such accreditations.
SERAP argues that the ban and withdrawal of accreditation tags without lawful justification infringe on the rights to freedom of expression, access to information, participation, and media freedom.
They contend that if not reversed, this arbitrary ban could set a dangerous precedent for further restrictions on these fundamental rights.
The organization emphasizes that media freedom and access to information are crucial for a democratic society and that the withdrawal of journalists’ accreditations hinders their legitimate constitutional responsibility.
It warns that this action may lead to self-censorship and create barriers between citizens and essential information about their government’s operations.
SERAP invokes Section 22 of the Nigerian Constitution, which upholds the role of the mass media in holding the government accountable to the people.
They assert that media freedom and access to information are essential for an open and accountable government.
The lawsuit aims to protect and uphold the principles of a free press, access to information, and the right to participation, emphasizing that these freedoms are fundamental in a democracy and should not be restricted on vague grounds of “security concerns and overcrowding of the press gallery area.”
As the legal proceedings unfold, no specific hearing date has been scheduled.