'WHY WE COLLECTED COMPENSATION' - NEWSPAPERS PROPRIETORS

The Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) has said that the N120 million compensation to media houses that were affected by the disruption of the circulation of their newspapers by armed soldiers in several cities was a collective decision.

In a statement issued on Saturday and signed by its Executive Secretary, Feyi Smith, NPAN recalled a meeting of its executive council of March 17, 2015, held at the offices of Daily Trust, Abuja, where it was resolved to accept the N120million compensation.

It also noted that two resolutions were passed at the meeting on the processes for the payment of the compensation.
The two resolutions, according to the statement, are: “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.”

The resolutions served as the precondition for the collection of compensation and this requires acceptance of the donation of N1 million from the compensation to run the secretariat and that the accounts of the affected members must be up-to-date.

The NPAN statement was issued to specifically clarify the statements 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 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.

While stating that the cheques for the Nigerian Tribune and Peoples' Daily remain in the Secretariat awaiting collection, NPAN 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 available.

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.”

Thirteen newspapers, through NPAN, had demanded compensation from government for the brutal and unlawful seizure of their 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.