“Our contention is that the media is not the principal problem presently confronting our country. We had expected that the President would take advantage of his second term to end the wanton corruption in his government as well as declaring a genuine war against Boko Haram and killer herdsmen who have been on a rampage without the slightest challenge."
The African Action Congress has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to tackle corruption in the country instead of trying to repress the media.
The Lagos State Chapter of AAC said this in reaction to the ongoing battle between DAAR Communications and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
The NBC had suspended the license of DAAR Communications for allegedly broadcasting content against the code of the broadcasting commission but the broadcast station was able to return on air after a court order.
AAC in a statement signed by Elias Ozikpu, Acting Publicity Secretary, AAC Lagos, also tasked President Buhari to find a means of combating Boko Haram and other insurgents groups and bandits killing innocent Nigerians, as they are the mandates he sold to Nigerians as campaign promises.
The party recalled that it was under Buhari's military reign that the infamous Decree 4 enacted a repressive, anti-media law.
“Our contention is that the media is not the principal problem presently confronting our country. We had expected that the President would take advantage of his second term to end the wanton corruption in his government as well as declaring a genuine war against Boko Haram and killer herdsmen who have been on a rampage without the slightest challenge.
“But our inept president, as usual, chose to pamper the destructive rodents eating up tubers of yam whilst he goes about crushing innocent ants with the weight of a sledgehammer. This only gives credence to our stance that the Buhari government is a government of misplaced prior," the statement said.
The party added that the ruling All Progressives Congress has the knack for diverting public attention from the things that matter while calling for an immediate investigation into the missing N500 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“Is it true, Mr. President, that N500 billion recently vanished from the coffers of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and that the leader of the gang that masterminded the disappearance of the money under reference was rewarded with another term in office?” AAC asked in the statement.
The opposition party said it believed the media is the backbone of healthy democracies across the world and that it would not fold its arms whilst the APC government kidnaps Nigeria’s democracy.