SECTOR 2 becoming media owners, usually through proxies, several panellists said. ‘Most times, those who the public know as owners of certain media organisations are not the true owners,’ said one panellist. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: Score of previous years: ✓✓✓ ✓ ✓✓ ✓✓✓ ✓ ✓ 1.9 2008: n/a; 2011: n/a; 2015: 1.6 2.5 Adequate legislation/regulation seeks to promote competition and prevent media concentration and monopolies President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (Competition Act) into law in February 2019. The anti-trust law established a Competition Commission and a Competition Tribunal. It also repealed the less stringent Consumer Protection Act.16 The aim of the new Act, according to analyst Wole Obayomi, was to ‘ensure that market distortions across all sectors are minimised and rules of fair play are respected in the marketplace’.17 “All sectors” is understood to include news media organisations, which in Nigeria are required by law to register as a business. Media concentration is more directly addressed in the Nigerian Broadcasting Act, which states that ‘it shall be illegal for any person to have controlling shares in more than two of each of the broadcast sectors of transmission’.18 In the panellists’ interpretation, the law limits media concentration within the broadcast sector but leaves room for cross-ownership, which has emerged as a common practice. One panellist stated that thanks to this loophole, many newspaper companies were setting up radio and television channels. Some examples include The Guardian and the Independent newspapers, which have obtained TV licences. This Day owns Arise TV, which describes itself as ‘a 24-hour international television news channel reporting on major global news with a strong focus on Africa’. 16 See Competition Policy International at https://www.competitionpolicyinternational.com/nigeria-competition-act-signedinto-law/. Last accessed on 06 Aug. 2019. 17 See analysis at https://home.kpmg/ng/en/home/insights/2019/03/Federal-Competition-and-Consumer-Protection-Act. html. Last accessed on 06 Aug. 2019. 18 NBC Act, Section 9 (5). Available at https://lawsofnigeria.placng.org/print.php?sn=276. Last accessed on 06 Aug. 2019. 27 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NIGERIA 2019