The Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), the umbrella body of Nigerian broadcasters, has petitioned the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, complaining of high-handedness in the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) imposition of N5 million on Channels TV for alleged tolerance of treasonable outburst of a Guest.
Besides, the Broadcasters have jointly slammed NBC for being the “accuser and the judge” in the matter of Channels TV and the Vice-Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Baba Datti -Ahmed, like sundry other cases.
Recall that Datti Baba-Ahmed, the Labour Party Vice-Presidential candidate in the February 25 election appeared on Channels TV “politics today” hosted by Seyi Okinbaloye, wherein the guest opined that the Chief Judge of the federation should not swear in the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He also said that swearing in Tinubu would signal the end of democracy in Nigeria.
BON wrote, “We found it absurd that NBC as a regulator could impose an illegal fine on broadcast stations without employing all avenues to investigate the complaints nor giving room for defence from the station accused.
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“The Honourable Minister, sir, the attitudes of NBC towards broadcast stations in recent past are not only arbitrary but smacks of high-handedness which is almost suffocating the broadcast media in the country,” Dr. Yemisi Bamgbose, BON’s Executive Secretary, petitioned the Minister, on behalf of the organisation.
Appealing to the Minister to use his good offices to reign in the NBC, BON added: “It is in the light of the above and for many other reasons that we are calling on the Minister of Information and Culture as the supervising Minister to urgently call NBC to order in other to avoid total decimation of the hitherto respected regulatory body.”
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Venting its mind to the DG of NBC, BON said the regulator is “gradually sliding to an agent of media suppression which may lose its credibility as an unbiased regulator,” even as it slammed it for “operating with the revised 6th edition of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code which a court of competent jurisdiction had declared illegal and that the judgment has not been overturned to date.”
Accusing the regulator of displaying what BON called a flagrant violation of the Nigerian Broadcasting Code, Bamgbose called for a two-level disciplinary panel as statutory to investigate whatever infractions there may be.
Meanwhile, the River State Governor, Nyemson Wike has been urged to use his friendship with the media to forestall the demolition of the office Complex of the DAAR Communication Ltd, operators of Ray Power and AIT, radio and television, respectively.
A statement by John Ugbe, Chairman of the BON added that the organisation would appreciate the Governor the more if he could make an out of court settlement happen.
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