Former Nigerian VP Atiku Slams NBC For Imposing Fine On Radio House N5million

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has slammed the Nigeria Broadcasting Commission (NBC), for fining Nigeria Info 99.3 FM N5 million over an interview it granted former Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN chief, Dr Obadiah Mailafia.

In a statement shared with TheCable, Atiku condemned the commission’s decision to sanction 99.3 FM Nigeria Info over the comment of Obadiah Mailafia who said during its programme that the Boko Haram insurgent group is being led by a governor.


Mailafia, also a former presidential candidate, said he learnt from repentant insurgents that one of the leaders of the group is a norther governor.


“Whether or not what Dr. Mailafia said on the radio station was a false claim, it is outside of the objectives of a responsible regulatory framework to sanction a radio station for a comment an individual made, more so that the personality in question, Dr. Obadiah, had been quizzed and released by law enforcement agents,” he said.


“If for any reason the authorities are not satisfied with his explanations, they are at liberty to prosecute him in court, but not to make a scapegoat of the media platform that provides opportunities for citizens to ventilate their views.


“The claim by the management of NBC that ‘this (the penalty) is expected to serve as a deterrent to all other broadcast stations in Nigeria who are quick to provide platform for subversive rhetoric and expositions of spurious and unverifiable claims, to desist from such’, is a naked attempt to gag the media in Nigeria.”


He asked the NBC to review the amended code and also drop the N5 million sanction it imposed on Nigeria Info