Chief Raymond Dokpesi. Chairman, Daar Communications. |
The
Nigeria Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has finally suspended the operating license
of Daar Communications Plc., owners of the Africa Independent Television (AIT)
and Ray Power stations across Nigeria until further notice.
The
Director-General of NBC, Modibbo Kawu, announced the shut down on Thursday
evening.
According
to him, the action was taken for failure of the broadcasting station to abide
by the broadcasting code.
Daar
Communications founder, Raymond Dokpesi, had earlier accused the Presidency of
intimidating his media group, alleging while speaking to newsmen at a press
conference in the company’s corporate headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.
“I
have it on strict authority and very assured information that the highest
echelons of government, the Presidency, queried and challenged the NBC that
they were not doing their jobs: ‘How on earth could they be hearing and seeing
on AIT what they termed hate speech?’
“Any
criticism of this government is hate speech. The NBC is acting under the
authority of the President and Commander-in-Chief. The licensing fees in
Nigeria is one of the highest in the world. There is no country in the world
where you have this type of exploitative fees. I have appealed for a reduction
because the payments cannot be sustained by private broadcasters in Nigeria.
“This
economy has plummeted. This government has called this organisation unprintable
names which has deterred several advertisers from patronising AIT. I sought an
audience with the NBC DG. I called, sent letters and sent text messages to him,
but he refused. In spite of the fact that we have to run generators 24-hours of
the day, I remain committed to keeping the spirit of broadcasting alive,”
Dokpesi said.
0 Comments
DISCLAIMER
The views and opinions expressed on this platform as comments were freely made by each person under his or her own volition or responsibility and were neither suggested nor dictated by the owners of Precious Eze's Blog or any of their contracted staff. So we take no liability whatsoever for such comments.
Please take note!