Channels Tv Suspension: NBC Guilty Of Double Standards – NGE

BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), has accused the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) of double standards in the application of its Code.

The NGE particularly noted that broadcast stations that carried Sheikh Abubakar Gumi’s parley with terrorists in their camps, were not sanctioned by the commission.

The NGE which stated these while reacting to the suspension the NBC slammed on Channels Television, declared that it will not stand by and watch media houses being threatened by regulatory agencies in the country.

It specifically said that press freedom is threatened when media houses are made to operate in an atmosphere of fear, stressing that democracy will be meaningless in Nigeria if press freedom is eroded.

The NGE in a statement by Mustapha Isah and Mary Atolagbe, National President and Secretary respectively, condemned in strong terms the threat issued to Channels Television by the NBC, over an interview with the spokesperson of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mr. Emmanuel Powerful.

It noted that Powerful had featured on Channels Tv programme “Politics Today” on Sunday April 25, 2021, during which he allegedly made inciting statements.

The NBC in the letter, ordered the immediate suspension of the programme on Channels Television.

The statement further states; “The Guild stands with Channels and will go to any length to defend press freedom in the country.

“The body of editors believes that the NBC is guilty of double standards because stations that carried Sheikh Gumi’s parley with terrorists in their camps, were not sanctioned by the commission.

“The NBC should jettison the practice of issuing threats to broadcast stations over matters that could easily be dealt with through dialogue,” the NGE stated.