IPOB: NBC’s Suspension Of Channels TV’s ‘Politics Today’ Draconian – PDP

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the suspension and fining of Channels Television by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

Naija News reports that NBC on Monday suspended Channels TV’s programme, ‘Politics Today’, and fined the television station ₦5 million for breaching the broadcast code.

The acting Director-General of NCC, Prof. Armstrong Idachaba, took the decision in a letter to the Managing Director of Channels TV titled, ‘Inciting Comments By Proscribed Group: Politics Today’

The commission accused the TV station of allowing a leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to make secessionist and inciting declarations on air without being cautioned or reprimanded by the station.

NBC described it as contrary to the broadcast code. It also accused the station of allowing the guest speaker to allegedly make derogatory and misleading statements about the Nigerian Army, despite being proscribed by a court of law.

But in a statement on Monday, the PDP described as draconian, the reported suspension and fine of ₦5 million slammed by NBC on Channels Television over alleged violation of broadcasting code.

The party said without prejudice to the issues raised against Channels Television, the reported hasty clampdown, without the benefit of caution, was suggestive of intolerance and high-handedness by the regulatory body.

“Our party is worried that such disposition could be counter-productive and heighten the already tensed situation in our nation at this critical time.

“The PDP, therefore, urges the NBC to review the punitive measure on the media house as well as a scale-up system-friendly measure that will ensure best practices in information dissemination in our country,” the party said.