EXPLAINER: Was Tinubu’s speech ‘leaked’? What to know about presidential broadcasts

 



Early Sunday morning, President Bola Tinubu addressed
Nigerians in a televised broadcast amid the #EndBadGovernance protest, which
commenced on Thursday in many parts of the country.

 

Hours before his address, his speech surfaced on the
internet in what many called a “leak”.

 

Public figures, including politicians, knocked the
presidency for “fooling Nigerians”, while some expressed concerns about the
safety of other classified documents.

 

But was the president’s speech top secret in the first
place? Here’s what to know about presidential broadcasts.

 



HOW IS A PRESIDENTIAL
BROADCAST DISSEMINATED?

 

Hours before a presidential broadcast, an embargoed copy is
disseminated to select media houses, especially the print media.

 

These media houses are trusted with the speech to enable
them to prepare timely and accurate reports as the president delivers his
address.

 

WHO IS IT SHARED
WITH?

 

The presidential speech is usually dispatched to the editors
of the media houses ahead of the broadcast.

 

WHAT ARE THE STIPULATED
CONDITIONS WHEN SHARED?

 

The speech will be under strict embargo until the president
delivers his address. In most cases, the media houses are permitted to share
the speeches at least 15 minutes into the broadcast.

 

Sharing the speech before the president’s broadcast flouts
the agreement with the media and creates a lack of public trust in the
presidency. It also affects the relationship between the media and the
government.

 

WHY IS EARLY
DISSEMINATION IMPORTANT?

 

To ensure the broadcast makes the front pages of mainstream
newspapers, it is expected that the speeches are disseminated the night before,
especially for broadcasts that are made early in the morning.

 

For print media houses, this gives them ample time for
production.

 

IS IT GLOBAL BEST
PRACTICE?

 

Disseminating presidential speeches before they are
televised is not a practice peculiar to Nigeria; it is done globally.

 

The practice is not only restricted to presidencies. Large
multilateral organisations such as the United Nations (UN) and other
international non-governmental organisations also engage in this practice.