- Following its shutting down of the Ekiti Broadcasting Service, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has threatened to impose a higher sanction on the television station
- The NBC said that the station will face a tougher punitive measure, if it fails to pay the fine of N500,000 imposed on it
- According to the NBC, the said fine is to be paid within a time-frame of two weeks
The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has said that it will impose a higher sanction on the Ekiti State Broadcasting Service (EBS) if it fails to pay N500,000 fine within the stipulated period. The NBC head of public affairs, Maimuna Jimada, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Jimada said: “Time frame to pay up a national broadcasting fine is 14 days. If they don’t pay within that time, they will get a higher sanction. Meanwhile, the station remains closed till further notice.”
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According to the official, EBS on Wednesday, July 11 breached Sections 5.2.7 and 5.2.8 of the Nigeria broadcasting code and was reprimanded and fined N500,000 by the commission. NBC also shut down the station on Sunday, July 15, for infractions on the code and the Electoral Act.
The commission said on its website that it shut down the station following unauthorised declaration of Saturday’s Ekiti governorship election results by Governor Ayodele Fayose on the station.
The commission added that Fayose made malicious and unsubstantiated claims against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the police and the Department of Security Services (DSS). The NBC said that it had, on Tuesday, June 5, queried the station’s acting director-general, Lere Olayinka, over breach of section 5.2.18 of the code, and the query ignored.
It said that all broadcasters must adhere strictly to the ethics of the profession in conducting all programmes on their stations in respect to the code, the National Broadcasting Act, 2004, and the electoral act.
According to the NBC, social media is not an official source for release of election results. It said that broadcasting stations must ensure proper gatekeeping and professionalism in all programmes transmitted on their stations, warning that the commission would impose severe sanctions for any breach of the code.
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NAN reported that section 5.2.15 states that a broadcaster shall broadcast election results or declaration of the winner only as announced by the authorised electoral officer for the election. Section 3.1.2 of the code states that materials likely to incite or encourage commission of a crime or lead to public disorder shall not be broadcast.
Earlier, NAIJ.com reported that the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) had ordered the immediate closure of Ekiti Broadcast Service (EBS).
The order was announced in a statement issued on Saturday, July 14, as the station was accused of violating the provisions of the broadcasting code.
The governor of the state, Ayodele Fayose, who appeared on the station before it was shut, said that Kolapo Olusola, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has won the governorship election, accusing securities of bias. Fayose said this while the coalition of the results by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was ongoing.
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Source: Naija.ng