*Accuses Lai of acting alone
By Myke Uzendu
The controversy trailing the review of the 6th edition of the National Broadcasting Code took a twist, as the board of the commission has distanced itself from the review edition.
The NBC Board led by its chairman, Ikra Aliyu Bilbis, on Thursday, in a media briefing, in Abuja, alleged that the Minister of Information and Orientation, Lai Mohammed “erroneously” carried out the review.
The review of 6th edition of the NB Code has been rejected by many stakeholders in the broadcasting industry, citing anti-freedom elements inherent in the code.
Reacting to the concerns, Bilbis said the necessary stakeholders in the broadcasting industry were not carried along in the formulation of the review, saying that the minister singlehandedly carried out the review.
NBC Board Chairman said: “The current edition (6th Edition) was presented to the public in 2019 at an elaborate ceremony in Kano which attracted a broad section of various stakeholders.
“Following the 2019 national elections, some members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) made observations to the Minister of Information at the said FEC meeting about the divisive broadcasts engaged in by some broadcast media before, during and after the elections and the need to strengthen the operations of the NBC to avert such future occurrence.
“This noble observation of Mr. President was unfortunately misunderstood by the Minister of Information, instead of studying and following the Law, relevant rules and regulations, and direct the appropriate authorities as stipulated by the Law to act on it, he erroneously embarked on the review alone”.
Aftermath of the noxious edition led to the slamming of N5 million fine on a private radio station, the Nigerian Info, for a live interview granted to Dr. Obadiya Mailafia, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), where he alleged that a serving governor is major sponsor of the Boko Haram terrorists.
, Published 10 hours ago on August 13, 2020
By Ayodele Oluwafemi
The controversy trailing the review of the 6th edition of the National Broadcasting Code has taken another dimension, as the board of the commission has distanced itself from the review edition.
The NBC Board led by its chairman, Ikra Aliyu Bilbis, on Thursday, in a media briefing, in Abuja, alleged that the Minister of Information and Orientation, Lai Mohammed “erroneously” carried out the review.
The review of 6th edition of the NB Code has been rejected by many stakeholders in the broadcasting industry, citing anti-freedom elements inherent in the code.
Reacting to the concerns, Bilbis said the necessary stakeholders in the broadcasting industry were not carried along in the formulation of the review, saying the minister singlehandedly carried out the review.
NBC Board Chairman said, “The current edition (6th Edition) was presented to the public in 2019 at an elaborate ceremony in Kano which attracted a broad section of various stakeholders.
“Following the 2019 national elections, some members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) made observations to the Honourable Minister of Information at an FEC meeting about the divisive broadcasts engaged in by some broadcast media before, during and after the elections and the need to strengthen the operations of the NBC to avert such future occurrence.
