Abuja – The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) on Sunday in Abuja threatened to sanction radio stations that denied opposition parties access to using their media houses.
The Director-General of the commission, Mr Emeka Mba, made the threat when he featured on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum.
“It is a problem that has become a very serious issue and we are committed to making an example out of one or two radio stations.”
“If you deny a group, especially during this election period, we will also deny you being on air. This is something that we’ve communicated very strongly to all the radio stations, especially in the states.”
“I was telling someone this afternoon that I have seen a former state governor who came to the commission to complain that the current state executive was not allowing him access to radio and I showed him a report that when he was governor, he also did not allow the other people.”
“In the practice of democracy, we need to learn; we need to adhere to civilised way of doing business.”
“But to be honest, we are working towards making example out of one or two radio stations.”
He said that the broadcast industry had been democratised with the injection of modern technology which created better content management opportunities.
According to Mba, there is the need for the industry to brace up to the challenges of the times by creating relevant programmes that could appeal to the children.
He said the commission was collaborating with tertiary institutions toward ensuring that their products fit into the modern broadcast industry
“We have licensed many institutions to have radio and television stations and we regulate them; we need to make sure that the quality of people who come out for these institutions fit into the system,’’ he said.
Mba also said that proper and relevant broadcasting could shape the minds of the people, especially in the face of security challenges facing the nation. (NAN)