The director general of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Dr. Is’haq Modibbo Kawu has said that the commission was open to negotiation with the management of Africa Independent Television (AIT) and RayPower FM, provided it clears all its outstanding debts owed to the NBC, foremost.
It would be recalled that the NBC had, on Thursday, announced the suspension of licences of the two media houses operated by DAAR Communications Plc.
Kawu explained while announcing the suspension in Abuja that the action was taken following the media houses’ alleged infractions including their inability to pay their licence renewal fees and the airing of a Presidential election documentary while the matter was still before a tribunal, among others.
“The commission’s monitoring reports on AIT/RayPower indicate the use of divisive comments accredited to the segment of Kakaaki, tagged, Kakaaki Social, where inciting comments like ‘Nigeria is cursed, we declare independent state of Niger Delta,’ ‘Nigeria irritates me,’ ‘this country is gradually Islamising,’ and other similar slogans are used without editorial control in breach of the broadcast code. We were therefore constrained to issue DAAR Communications letters of warning dated May 27, 2019.
“We also observed from monitoring reports that a documentary on the Presidential Election Tribunal, a pending election petition matter aired on AIT on Wednesday and Thursday, May 22 and 23 May, 2019 without regard to the provisions of the Broadcast Code,” said Kawu who added that the closure was until further notice.
He also alleged that in its relationship with the NBC, DAAR Communications behaves as if it is above the law.
“They don’t pay their licence fees as and when due. Consequently, after several meetings with the management of DAAR Communications Plc and many letters of warning, the NBC today took a decision to suspend the licence of DAAR Communications Plc for failure to abide by the commission’s directives, the provisions of the NBC Act Cap N11,” he added.
However, he said if the organisation wanted the suspension lifted, it would have to meet certain
‘‘There are certain basic steps that you take when your licenses are suspended. One is that DAAR Communications have to pay entirely all the money they owe NBC, have to take certain other steps that would come up as we go along. It is not adversarial relationship; we are not targeting them as an institution,’’ he added.
He denied that the suspension of media house’s licence had anything to do with his membership of the All Progressive Congress (APC).
‘‘It did not matter whether Raymond Dokpesi, owner of DAAR Communications Plc belongs to a political party. I joined the APC in October 2018, when I ran for governorship position in my state. So it is not about the political party I belong to. I am a media professional and there are certain basic responsibilities that every broadcasting station owes to the Nigerian state.
‘‘We are not a censorship institution. We made it clear to all broadcast stations that the obligation they have is to have Nigeria first before you have broadcasting or any social institution. The way and manner they uphold the integrity of their country is what matters. I have been very deliberate in my regulatory responsibility because I know them very well.’’
Kawu also denied that he was acting on the directive of the presidency.
He said NBC’s action was in full compliance with the Nigerian Broadcasting Act and the Nigerian Broadcasting code.
‘‘The regulator and the licensee have a relationship which has been codified by the Nigerian laws and those laws are basic: the Nigerian Broadcasting Act and Nigerian broadcasting code. These are the platforms upon which every licensee must operate. There is no licensee no matter how big or small bigger than the regulator.
“What has happened is that over the years, DAAR Communications have behaved as if they cannot be regulated. And there is no institution in Nigeria that cannot be regulated, you either fall in obeying the law, walking down the narrow part or you are out of business. We are not going to have a horsiest state of nature in Nigeria, especially in broadcasting,” he said.
Meanwhile, the agency has received torrents of bashing for its suspension of the licences of the broadcast organizations.
In his reaction, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Atiku Abubakar faulted the action of the NBC.
“The legislature has been challenged. The judiciary has been tackled. If we stand by as the press loses its independence, there will be little to differentiate us from a dictatorship. This should not happen,” he said.
Similarly, a Lagos-based legal practitioner, Mr. Mike Ozekhome described the clampdown on the Nigerian media through the shutting down of AIT/Ray Power stations by the NBC as “extreme” “unconscionable” and “brutish.”
In a statement entitled ‘The illegal and unconstitutional gagging of the AIT/RayPower media houses: An ominous ill-wind that blows the country no good’ said: “If DAAR is accused of having breached any guidelines or rules of engagement with the regulatory body, NBC, as regards airing the ongoing Atiku/PDP’s election petition (which is not conceded because same has been in the public domain for over three months), it is gravely and fundamentally wrong for the NBC (which is supposed to be neutral to all Nigerians) to take the laws into its hands and take sides with the Buhari/APC government, or their lawyers, by fighting their battles for them.”
Ozekhome therefore called on President Muhammadu Buhari to order NBC to lift the shutdown immediately and return its suspended licence and allow it to operate freely like other pro-government media houses that dot every nook and crannies of Nigeria.
Also reacting, former deputy spokesman for the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Timi Frank described the illegal use of armed security men to seal off the premises of the media outfit as “the height of impunity, tyranny and molestation against the Nigerian media.”
“This represents an unfortunate and lamentable oppression of the media and direct suppression of press freedom in the country by the General Muhammadu Buhari regime which must not be allowed to stand,” he declared.
“The ongoing pacification, intimidation and emasculation of the Nigerian media to confer totalitarian powers on the Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s regime and enable it to ride roughshod over Nigerians without censure or criticism.
“This unfortunate action, I dare say, marks the beginning of the #NextLevel policy of intimidation and persecution of the Nigerian media by the General Buhari’s regime.
“Make no mistakes, this closure is meant to serve as a lesson to other media houses and forcefully stop them from exposing Buhari’s ineptness and cluelessness in governance to members of the public,” he stated.
He warned the media to brace up for more ferocious attacks by the present regime saying that any media organization that considers the ongoing efforts to kill AIT and RayPower FM as an isolated incident should have a rethink.
“In January this year, armed soldiers invaded and occupied the offices of Media Trust Limited – publishers of the Daily Trust Newspapers – in Maiduguri and Abuja, seized their laptops, computers, arrested and detained its top reporters and editors.
“We must not also forget the illegal detention of a Premium Times journalist, Samuel Ogundipe, for three days for publishing a story from a report on the invasion of the Senate authored by the immediate past inspector general of police, Ibrahim Idris, to the president,” he said.
Also reacting, the Ohaneze Ndigbo described the action as “danger for the survival of democracy” in Nigeria
“This portends danger for the survival of democratic rule in Nigeria. I’m sure that the courts will be alive to defend democracy. This action portends danger for freedom of speech in Nigeria,” said the president of the pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Chief John Nwodo.
For its part, the PDP shutdown was an indication that dictatorship had returned to the country.
“This action of the government is most undesirable and unfortunate. It is an indication of what to come as the government must be planning to arrest Nigerians indiscriminately.
“It is also an indication that the government has returned the country to military rule. President Buhari must know that he is not the king of the country. Rather, he should know that we are in a democracy.
“We are not in a jungle. He should know that there was a country before he assumed office and there will still be a country after he must have left. He should build, instead of destroying,” said the national chairman of the party, Mr. Uche Secondus.
