NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA ACT

(1) There is hereby established a body to be known as the News Agency of Nigeria (hereafter in this Act referred to as "the Agency").
(2) The Agency shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal and may sue and be sued in its corporate name.

(1) The objects of the Agency shall be to-
(a) seek, obtain and otherwise receive through subscription, payment, exchange or other means, international, regional, local and other news, news material and news features;
(b) distribute such news, news material and news features to subscribers against payment either in the form of fees or news exchange or on such other terms as may be agreed;
(c)
engage in commercial enterprises that are ancillary to the objects of the Agency or which in the opinion of the Board can be advantageously carried on by the Agency;
[1992 No. 87.]
(d)
present complete, objective and impartial information, news or news material or features on any matter of public or national interest within and outside the Federation; and
(e)
report truthfully and fairly, without prejudice to public and national interest, the views of all sections of the population of the Federation.
[1992 No. 87.]
(2) Without prejudice to subsection (1) of this section, the Agency shall have a monopoly-
(a) of the sale, distribution in Nigeria, of news, information, economic and financial data and any other service or product of any foreign news agency to be marketed in Nigeria; and
(b) any equipment used pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the management of the Agency and responsibility for carrying out the objects of the Agency shall be vested in a Board of directors (hereafter in this Act referred to as "the Board") consisting of-
(a) a chairman who shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Minister;
(b) one person to represent the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation;
(c) one person, to represent the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria;
(d) one person who shall be a member of the private sector media organisation to represent subscribers to the Agency;
(e) the Managing Director of the Agency;
(f)
the heads of the following departments of the Agency, that is-
(i) editorial;
(ii) technical; and
(iii) finance and administration.
[1992 No. 87.]
(2)
The provisions of the Schedule to this Act shall have effect with respect to the qualifications and tenure of office of members of the Board, powers and procedure of the Board and the other matters mentioned in that Schedule.
[Schedule.]

(1) The Minister may give to the Board directions of a general character or relating to particular matters (but not to any individual person or case) with regard to the exercise by the Board of its functions, and it shall be the duty of the Board to comply with the directions.
(2) Before giving a direction under subsection (1) of this section, the Minister shall serve a copy of the proposed direction on the Board and shall afford the Board an opportunity of making representations to him with respect to the direction; and after considering any representations made to him in pursuance of this subsection, the Minister may give the direction either without modification or with such modifications as appear to him to be appropriate having regard to the representations.

(1) There shall be appointed for the Agency a Managing Director, who shall be the chief executive of the Agency.
(2) The Managing Director shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Minister.
(3)
The Managing Director shall be responsible for the execution of the policies and objects of the Agency and shall see to the day-to-day running of the affairs of the Agency and carry out such other duties as may be directed, from time to time, by the Board.
[1992 No. 87.]
(4) The Managing Director shall hold and vacate office in accordance with the terms of the instrument by which he is appointed and shall-
(a) receive such remuneration and allowances; and
(b) be eligible to receive such pension, gratuity or other retiring allowances (if any), as may be determined by the Board with the approval of the Minister.

(1) The Board shall appoint a secretary, who shall be an officer but not a member of the Board and who shall keep the Board's records, conduct its correspondence and perform such other duties of a clerical and secretarial nature as the Board or the Managing Director may, from time to time, direct and require.
(2) The Board may appoint such other employees and agents as it thinks fit.
(3) The terms and conditions of service (including terms and conditions as to remuneration, allowances and retiring and medical benefits) of the secretary and other employees and agents of the Board shall be such as may be determined by the Board with the approval of the Minister.

(1) The Board may, by an instrument in writing under its common seal, delegate to any person or body such of its duties as may be necessary to be performed in or outside the Federation:
Provided that any such person or body shall have no control over the money of the Agency and shall act in all respects in accordance with the direction of the Board.
(2) The Board may, from time to time, form committees to consider special questions as may be referred to them by the Board; and any such committee shall perform its functions according to directions given to it by the Board.

(1) The Agency shall establish and maintain a fund (in this section referred to as "the fund") from which shall be defrayed all expenditure incurred by the Agency.
(2) There shall be paid and credited to the fund-
(a) such moneys as may, from time to time, be granted to the Agency by the Federal Government; and
(b) all other moneys which may, from time to time, accrue to the Agency.
(3) The fund shall be applied towards the promotion of the objects of the Agency under this Act and the payment of remuneration (including provisions for pension, gratuity, superannuation or other retirement benefits) to or in respect of any employee or agent of the Agency.
(4) The Board may, with the approval of the President, borrow money in connection with the operations of the Agency, and invest part of the fund in such securities as the Minister may, from time to time, approve.

(1) The Board shall prepare and submit to the Minister, not later than 31 October each year, an estimate of its expenditure and income during the next succeeding financial year.
(2) The Board shall keep proper accounts in respect of each financial year, and proper records in relation to those accounts and shall cause the accounts to be audited as soon as may be after the end of the financial year to which the accounts relate by a firm of auditors approved from the list and in accordance with guidelines supplied by the Auditor-General for the Federation.
(3) The Board shall prepare and submit to the Minister, not later than 30 June in each financial year, a report in such form as the Minister may direct, on the activities of the Agency during the last financial year and shall include in the report a copy of the audited accounts of the Agency for that last financial year and of the auditor's report on those accounts.
(4) The Minister shall cause a copy of each report made to him under this section to be laid before the President.

The Agency shall have power-(a) to acquire and hold property, whether movable or immovable; and
(b) to enter into contracts.

The seal of the Agency may, from time to time, be broken, changed, altered or made anew as seems fit
Provided that until a seal is provided under this section, a stamp bearing the inscription "News Agency of Nigeria" may be used as the common seal.

The Agency shall have a principal office in the Federation and may establish such other office or offices at such place or places in or outside the Federation as the Board with the approval of the Minister may, from time to time, determine.

(1) Notwithstanding any arrangements which the Agency may enter into or make for the reception and distribution of international news, subscribers to the Agency may, on request and on terms in regard to payment to be decided by the Board, receive through the Agency the full service supplied to the Agency by an international news agency.
(2) Arrangements for news collection and distribution made by the Agency shall be without prejudice to the right of Nigerian newspapers and radio subscribers to make their own independent arrangements for news coverage by their own correspondents.
(3)
The term "**correspondents**" in subsection (2) of this section, shall include the editorial staff of a newspaper or any person who writes or supplies news for a fee either as a part-time or whole-time occupation.

The Agency shall be exempt from all stamp duties payable under any law, for the time being in force in Nigeria.

No member of the Board shall incur any personal liability for any loss or damage caused by any act or omission in the management or conduct of the affairs of the Agency, unless such loss or damage was occasioned by an intentionally wrongful act or omission on his part.

Upon the commencement of this Act, all moneys or other assets, if any, in the custody or control of any person by virtue of any authority whatsoever given to or received by such person for or on behalf of the Agency in anticipation of the commencement of this Act together with interest, if any, accruing thereon shall be deemed to form part of the income of the Agency and shall be transferred to and be vested in the Board.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
"**Agency**" means the News Agency of Nigeria, established under section 1 (1) of this Act;
"**Board"** means the Board of Directors, referred to in section 3 (1) of this Act;
"**Minister**" means the Minister charged with responsibility for information;
"**Principal office**" means any office of the Agency in Nigeria so designated by the Agency.

This Act may be cited as the News Agency of Nigeria Act.