Buhari threatens to drag NTA, AIT to court over hate broadcast.

ABUJA — The Presidential candidate of All
Progressives Congress, APC, General
Muhammadu Buhari (ret), has threatened to
take legal action against the Nigerian
Television Authority, NTA, and the African
Independent Television, AIT, for airing hate
broadcasts against his personality.
This came on a day the National Broadcasting
Commission, NBC, warned all broadcasting
stations operating in the country to adhere
strictly to the provisions of the broadcasting
code or risk sanctions.
In a protest letter lodged through the Legal
Director of APC Presidential Campaign
Council, Mr. Chukwuma-Machukwu Ume,
SAN, Buhari, insisted that the two television
stations must not only retract the “hate
documentaries,” but also issue a public
apology to him.
He said he would not hesitate to seek legal
remedy should the television houses refuse to
comply with the conditions.
Besides, the APC candidate said he had
already petitioned the Nigerian Broadcasting
Commission, NBC, and the National Human
Rights Commission, NHRC, asking them to
investigate both NTA and AIT over the hate
broadcasts and take necessary punitive
actions.
“The hate broadcast has been on from
Saturday, January 24, 2015 to Sunday,
January 25, 2015, at 11p.m. in AIT,” Buhari
noted.
Meanwhile, The National Broadcasting
Commission, NBC, has warned all
broadcasting stations to adhere strictly to the
provisions of the broadcasting code or risk
sanctions.
The Director-General of the Commission, Mr.
Emeka Mba, who issued the warning, said the
Commission acknowledged the effort of
broadcasting stations were making in
lubricating the nation’s political space, but
noted that some stations had been operating
outside the provisions of the code in a manner
that could become counter-productive to the
national objectives of peaceful, free and fair
elections.
“We are in exciting times. Political campaigns
are under way and the nation is agog with
politicians campaigning to persuade the
electorate to support them, this is how it
should, that is the beauty of democracy,” he
said.

Vanguard.