The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has imposed N2 million fines on Arise News and TVC for alleged breach of national broadcasting codes in the countdown to the 2023 general election.
The Director General, NBC Balarabe Shehu Ilelah, announced the punishment in separate letters he wrote to the management of the affected organisations on February 3, 2023
NBC said the fines should be paid within two weeks of the receipt of the letters or the sanction would be graduated.
In its letter to TVC, the commission accused the television station of breaching the following sections of the Code: 1.10.4; 3.1.2; 3.1.2; 3.3.1(e); 4.2.2 (g); 4.2.2 (g); 4.3.1(e); 5.3.3 (c); 5.3.3 (e); 5.3.3 (f); and 5.5.1 (b).
It accused TVC News of allowing derogatory and unfair comments to be broadcast on its station.
Ilelah said the worrisome trend had become a house style on TVC.
It said the unprofessional broadcasts by TVC include the Joint media Directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign Council press briefing where Festus Keyamo said “Obasanjo and Atiku run a criminal enterprise, an aempire of fraud in Abuja…” and alleged that some goons of Atiku Abubakar were planning to eliminate Michael Achimugu, a whistle blower.
It also excoriated TVC News of not giving equal news coverage to other political parties in all their news.
In the letter to Arise TV, NBC said there were infractions on the following sections of the code: 1.10.4; 3.1.2; 3.3.1(e); 5.3.3 (e); 5.3.3 (f); 5.5.1 (b); 5.5.1 (d); and 5.5.6.
The commission cited the broadcast of the presidential campaign rally of PDP in Delta, interview with former APC Campaign Director, Na’jaatu Muhammed, and broadcast of the PDP presidential campaign rally in Sokoto.
It slammed Arise Global Media of giving prominence to unfair contents which are glamorized on Arise news programme “What is Trending”.
More details shortly…