8th June, 2019
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki has asked the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, NBC, to comply with court order to re-open the African Independent Television, AIT, and Ray Power FM shut by the commission on Thursday.
The NBC, had on Thursday shut AIT and Ray Power owned by DAAR Communications for breaching its guidelines.
The Federal High Court in Abuja had on Friday ordered NBC to re-open the station pending determination of the matter in court.
Speaking on the matter, Saraki, in a statement, said the management and the workers of AIT and DAAR Communications came to the National Assembly to air out their concerns over the purported moves to clamp down on their stations.
“As Thursday was the Valedictory session of the 8th Senate, we could not take action on the matter immediately and to our surprise, the premises of the broadcast station were immediately closed by the NBC.
“Regulators, though necessary, must know that all such actions that give the impression of the endangering of the freedom of the press or freedom of speech cast our nation in a bad light. Such issues need to be handled in a better manner,” he said.
Moving forward, Saraki stated that the NBC needed to comply with the court’s order and that “we must understand that this is not only about AIT, this is about Nigeria and one of its stations that is not only viewed within the country, but outside the country as well.
“The NBC should find a better way to resolve the issue, even after adhering to the ruling of the court. We must be seen to be a nation that adheres strictly to the rule of law.”