NBC fines radio station N5m over Obadiah Mailafia’s ‘Boko Haram’ interview

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has fined Nigeria Info 99.3 N5 million over an interview with Obadiah Mailafia, former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

While appearing on the programme on Monday, Mailafia alleged that a northern governor is one of the leaders of Boko Haram.

Subsequently, the Department of State Services (DSS) invited the former CBN deputy governor over the allegation and grilled him for hours on Wednesday before letting him go.

In a statement on Thursday, the commission accused the station of providing its platform for Obadiah to “promote unverifiable and inciting views that could encourage or incite to crime and lead to public disorder”.

It said the former CBN deputy governor’s claims were devoid of facts and in contravention of seven provisions of the recently amended broadcasting code.

“No broadcast shall encourage or incite to crime, lead to public disorder or hate, be repugnant to public feelings or contain offensive reference to any person or organization, alive or dead or generally be disrespectful to human dignity,” the statement read.

“Broadcasting shall promote human dignity, therefore, hate speech is prohibited.

“Consequent on these provisions and in line with the amendment of the 6thedition of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, Nigeria Info 99.3FM Lagos, has been fined the sum of N5,000,000.00 (Five Million Naira), only.

“This is expected to serve as a deterrent to all other broadcast stations in Nigeria who are quick to provide [their] platform for subversive rhetoric and the expositions of spurious and unverifiable claims, to desist from such.

“The commission wishes to put it on record that it will not hesitate to suspend the Broadcast Licence of broadcast stations that continue to breach the Code.

“Stations are, by this statement, admonished to desist forthwith, from airing unwholesome content, or be ready to face appropriate sanctions.”