In what appears as an attempt to gag the media, Governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke has ordered his Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi to immediately summon the General Managers of broadcasting stations in the State to “brief” them on what he described as “constant breach of the national broadcasting codes”.
The threat is coming in the wake of the controversy that has trailed the Friday ruling of the Court of Appeal in the suit by the APC Chairmen seeking to relist an appeal earlier dismissed in January.
According to a statement by his Spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, Adeleke threatened to impose sanctions on some broadcasting stations for allowing guests, mostly members of the opposition All Progressives Congress to “incite the public to violence.”
“The Governor expressed displeasure at the activities of some radio stations who allowed guests to incite the public to violence and also manifest disdain for lack of fair hearing to affected stakeholders.
“The Governor has therefore directed the Commissioner for Information to summon the General Managers of all affected stations for a briefing before further action will be taken.
“While drumming support for freedom of press, the governor said observance of broadcasting codes is key to responsible broadcast journalism, vowing to impose sanctions on any station that refuses to obey broadcast rules and codes.”
Regulation of broadcasting in Nigeria is exclusively the duty of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), an agency of the federal government.
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