SERAP blasts National Broadcasting Commission for suspending ChannelsTV, threatens lawsuit- IPOB

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and the National Broadcasting Commission to revoke the arbitrary, unlawful, and illegal decision to suspend Channels Television and fine it N5 million for allegedly violating the broadcast code.

According to sources, the Commission’s Acting Director-General, Professor Armstrong Idachaba, wrote a letter to Channels Television’s Managing Director on Sunday, April 25, 2021, accusing the TV station of interviewing a leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) without “caution or reprimand.”

“The suspension of Channels Television is unlawful, illegal, arbitrary, and without any legal basis whatsoever,” SERAP’s deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, said in a statement. The suspension and fine should be lifted immediately by the government and NBC. If the arbitrary, unlawful, and illegal suspension and fine are not reversed, we will take necessary legal action.

“This intervention by the government and NBC is yet another example of Nigerian authorities’ efforts to muzzle independent media and voices,” SERAP continued. The Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended) and international commitments to respect and protect freedom of speech and media freedom are lifted by the government and NBC.

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“This is a new low in Nigeria’s defense of freedom of speech and the right of independent media to operate in the country,” the statement reads in part. “The suspension of Channels Television is harmful to media freedom and access to information, and the Federal Government and NBC must reverse the decision immediately.”

“The successful exercise of freedom of speech and access to information requires media freedom and plurality.” The opportunity to practice journalism without unreasonable interference and to cover a wide range of viewpoints is critical to the exercise of many other rights and liberties.

“The media has a vital role to play as ‘public watchdog’ in imparting information of serious public concern and should not be inhibited or intimidated from playing that role. The Federal Government and NBC should stop targeting and intimidating independent media and voices.”

“President Muhammadu Buhari should caution the NBC to stop intimidating and harassing independent media houses and to respect the Nigerian Constitution and the country’s international human rights obligations, including under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter O Human and Peoples’ Rights.”