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Nigerian Broadcasting Commission Threatens To Shut Down Stations That Air ‘Dangerous Comments’ In Ongoing General Elections

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March 10, 2023

The NBC’s spokesman, Ekanem Antia, who made this known in Abuja on Friday, stated that the Commission’s Director-General, Malam Balarabe Ilelah, issued a warning against such peace-threatening activities at a meeting with broadcast stations on the coverage of the 2023 general elections.
 

 

Nigeria's broadcast regulatory agency, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), has threatened to shut down any broadcast station that airs programmes that offend the peaceful co-existence in the country.
The NBC’s spokesman, Ekanem Antia, who made this known in Abuja on Friday, stated that the Commission’s Director-General, Malam Balarabe Ilelah, issued a warning against such peace-threatening activities at a meeting with broadcast stations on the coverage of the 2023 general elections.
“The NBC is giving its last warning to broadcast stations and will not hesitate to shut or revoke the licence of any when convinced that its activities are capable of undermining the peaceful co-existence of the country.
“Any further breaches of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code and Act will no longer be tolerated.’’
According to him, the Commission monitored the coverage of the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections by some broadcast stations and noted how they availed unpatriotic individuals their platforms to make subversive, hateful and inciting utterances, particularly post-election, Daily Post reports.
The NBC spokesperson further stated that the NBC DG however commended the media for their efforts in ensuring peaceful pre-election coverage, especially for their selfless service to keeping the citizens informed.
However, Ilela noted that the coverage of the elections and post-election matters were “marred by unguarded statements, divisive and dangerous comments.”
Antia stated that Ilelah stressed that the media had a role to play in ensuring national development by publishing or broadcasting narratives of national reconciliation and healing in Nigeria’s present unsettling times.
Hence, he called on broadcast stations to avoid the promotion of negative conversations which according to him, were not only dangerous to the country’s democracy but posed threats to Nigeria’s corporate existence.
He pointed out that using broadcast stations and platforms to incite supporters or create enmity in the country would not help in deepening the nation’s democracy, rather, it would lead to the destabilisation of the country, while stressing that the media had the responsibility to ensure that national issues discussed on the airwaves were done with decorum, civility, patriotism and a sense of fairness.
He noted that “In as much as the Commission believes in the freedom of expression, it is also seriously constrained to act decisively on any broadcaster that exploits the fragile peace of our nation,” and therefore appealed to broadcast stations to strictly abide by provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, the Act and other extant laws guiding broadcasting in the country.