‘Inciting’ Comment: Datti Baba-Ahmed To Pay N5Million
‘Inciting’ Comment: Datti Baba-Ahmed To Pay N5Million
A civic group, Women Arise has called for the reversal of N5 million imposed on Channel TV by the Muhammadu Buhari Government as a fine over an interview it had with Datti Baba-Ahmed, Labour Party vice-presidential candidate.
The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) stated in a March 27 letter addressed to Channels TV Chief Executive Officer that the television station violated broadcasting code during the interview session with Datti, noting that the broadcast was volatile and capable of inciting public disorder and thus violated some sections of the broadcasting code.
Reacting to this, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, President, Women Arise in a press release dated Sunday, April 8, 2023, described the action of the NBC as undemocratic.
Instead of fining Channel TV, the group argued that Baba-Ahmed, the Labour Party vice-presidential candidate who made the alleged inciteful remarks, should be held accountable.
The statement reads: “The 5 million Naira fine imposed on Channels TV is a travesty which must not stand.
“In other words, the NBC should reverse itself since it exists in a somewhat undemocratic cleft where it alone accuses stations, adjudicates, imposes penalties and executes the penalties.
“If nothing else, the sheer strain on the presenter as he applied the brakes on that program should count. He did his job. The politician in question should even pay the fine as he kept saying he absolved the presenter. People should watch the piece a few times to grasp the injustice of the fine.
“We have also seen a lot of brazen broadcasts elsewhere which did not attract such heavy fines. Programs dedicated to ownership and party chieftains becoming presenters with unfettered liberty to cast aspersions on opponents.”
“It is not sure that the NBC does not deserve a fine itself, but who would fine it? Agencies like this simply mock democracy,” the group added.
