The House of Representatives on Tuesday asked the National
Broadcasting Commission to produce detailed evidence of penalties it had
meted out to broadcast stations that had violated the codes for
political coverage and advertisements.
The House Committee on Information and National Orientation gave the
directive in Abuja at an interactive session with top management
officials of media organisations and regulatory bodies in the country.
The committee, which is chaired by Mr. Umar Buba-Jibrin, had called
the meeting to address complaints of “rising cases of violations,
particularly the broadcast of hate speeches, advertisements,
documentaries and publications” by media houses.
The committee claimed that such actions allowed by some broadcast
outfits and print media houses ahead of March 28 general elections could
precipitate “major and uncomfortable political violence” in the
country.
The committee noted that fairness, balance, lack of right of reply
and broadcast of content that were “clearly untrue or intended to cause
crises” were on the increase in the media lately.
“What purpose does it serve anyone, if we have to broadcast or publish content that we know is not true?
“We are living in this country and we know our history. Some of us witnessed the Nigerian civil war.
“Why do we carry content that is full of lies just to please a
particular political group or individuals even when it is not correct?”
Buba-Jibrin asked.
It was a stormy session where regulatory agencies and some broadcast
outfits, including the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, DAAR
Communications, Nigerian Television Authority and the Federal Radio
Corporation of Nigeria put up a defence for themselves.
The NBC, led by its Director-General, Mr. Emeka Mba, denied that it
failed as a regulator in allowing some broadcast stations to air certain
political content considered to be offensive.
He told the committee that the commission applied all the codes and regulations to all political broadcasts.
Mba also said whenever complaints were made or investigations showed
that certain content were indeed in bad taste, the commission did not
hesitate to fine the media houses involved.
“We have fined some stations, not once; there are a number of them”, he added.
However, Mba got the lawmakers infuriated when he rationalised that
hate speeches or what might be considered to be offensive was relative.
He tried to explain that there was a line between interfering with
the operations of the outfits and the right of people to freedom of
expression, equally guaranteed by Nigerian laws.
“Any material that incites violence, we take particular exceptions to it.
“However, not all uncomplimentary remarks about an individual or
organisation are inciting because the stations too have a right to
freedom to operate,” Mba said.
A lengthy argument ensued between Mba and the lawmakers over his
stance, a reason the committee directed him to produce the list of the
stations it had sanctioned this year.
Both Daar Communications and NTA told the committee that they had
been fair to all political groups and individuals since electioneering
for the poll stated.
But they also clarified that certain content were commercial in nature and intended to
generate revenue for the sustenance of the outfits.
NTA’s Director-General, Mr. Shola Omole, in particular, further
explained that content that was carried “live” was completely beyond
the control of the station.
He claimed that other political groups were usually compensated by giving them the same amount of airtime as a right of reply.
Former NTA presenter and Chairman, House Committee on Diaspora
Affairs, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, vehemently disagreed with Omole.
She said President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party
enjoyed more airtime than Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and the All
Progressives Congress on the NTA.
She also told the session that on three occasions, the APC had tried
unsuccessfully to air a documentary on NTA and AIT to reply to hate
documentaries carried by the same stations against its presidential
candidate and the party’s national leader, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu.
The Nigerian Press Council was represented by the Executive Secretary, Mr. Nnamdi Njemanze.
Njemanze stated that though some print organisations often challenged
the regulatory powers of the NPC, the media would still have to perform
their duties.
He explained that most of the reports carried by newspapers but seen
by some people as inciting, “mirrored” the comments made by politicians.
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