The Nigeria Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has suspended the license of Daar Communications Plc., owners of Africa Independent Television (AIT) and Ray Power until further notice.
Director-General of NBC, Modibbo Kawu, announced the shut down on Thursday evening.
He said the action was taken for failure of the broadcasting station to abide by the broadcasting code.
NBC had EARLIER queried AIT over the use of social media comments in one of its programmes, Kakaaki, and ‘unprofessional’ conducts by the media house.
The broadcast regulatory commission directed the media house to explain why it should not be sanctioned for broadcasting ‘inciting’ and ‘unfair’ contents.
Daar Communications founder, Raymond Dokpesi, however, accused the Presidency of intimidating his media group
He made the allegation 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.
