The Federal Government hammer has descended on Nigeria Info 99.3 FM with a fine of N5 million over content of interview with former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Obadiah Mailafia.
Mailafia had during the interview Monday, alleged that a serving Northern governor is a leader of the Boko Haram just as he claimed that Boko Haram members had penetrated the Southern part of the country in readiness to cause civil war in 2022.
The interview generated curiosity leading to an invitation of Mailafia for further interrogation by the Department of State Services (DSS) on Wednesday. He was drilled for several hours.
Federal Government through its agency, the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) on Thursday accused Nigeria Info 99.3 FM of providing Mailafia a medium to “promote unverifiable and inciting views that could encourage or incite to crime and lead to public disorder”.
But the Media Rights Agenda in reaction “condemned the action of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) in imposing a N5 million fine on a radio station, Nigeria Info 99.3FM, for allegedly broadcasting “hate speech” over what the Commission termed the unprofessional conduct of the station in the handling of the programme, “Morning Cross Fire”, aired on August 10, 2020.”
MRA said in a statement issued in Lagos and signed by its Programme Director, Mr. Ayode Longe: “We are seriously concerned by this latest development in Nigeria of a supposed media regulatory body taking the country down a dangerous path of official censorship by constituting itself into a legislature making criminal law and acting at the same time as an accuser, a prosecutor and the judge in its own cause. This situation is an affront to the rules of natural justice.”
NBC in its statement while making reference to the newly revised Nigerian Broadcasting Code said: “No broadcast shall encourage or incite to crime, lead to public disorder or hate, be repugnant to public feelings or contain offensive reference to any person or organization, alive or dead or generally be disrespectful to human dignity,”
“Broadcasting shall promote human dignity, therefore, hate speech is prohibited.
“Consequent on these provisions and in line with the amendment of the 6thedition of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, Nigeria Info 99.3FM Lagos, has been fined the sum of N5,000,000.00 (Five Million Naira), only.
“This is expected to serve as a deterrent to all other broadcast stations in Nigeria who are quick to provide [their] platform for subversive rhetoric and the expositions of spurious and unverifiable claims, to desist from such.
“The commission wishes to put it on record that it will not hesitate to suspend the Broadcast Licence of broadcast stations that continue to breach the Code.
“Stations are, by this statement, admonished to desist forthwith, from airing unwholesome content, or be ready to face appropriate sanctions.”
On its part, MRA noted that only a week ago, on August 4, 2020, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, announced at the unveiling of the revised Nigerian Broadcasting Code that the Federal Government had increased the fine for hate speech from N500,000 to N5 million and a few days later, the NBC is already abusing the provision to censor a media organization without due process for a broadcast that cannot be defined as hate speech under any circumstance.
Mr. Longe said: “We are aware that the NBC is empowered to make regulations for the conduct and operations of broadcast stations in Nigeria, but it cannot usurp the legislative powers of National Assembly, the prosecutorial powers of the Executive and the judicial powers of the courts by making laws, interpreting the laws, imposing punishment and executing its judgment as it has done in this case. Such action is obscene and offensive, particularly in a democracy.”
MRA noted that it was appalling that in its haste, apparently to do the bidding of the Minister of Information and punish Nigeria Info 99.3FM, the NBC disregarded the due process provisions in its own regulations and rushed to judgment without conducting any investigation or awaiting the outcome of investigations by any other law enforcement or security agency or giving the radio station adequate time and opportunity to defend itself against the absurd charge of hate speech in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution.
It called on the NBC to rescind its decision, saying it would only subject itself to public and international ridicule by failing to do so and trigger a wave of global condemnation of Nigeria that the country can ill-afford.
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