NBC to sanction Ondo State Television Service

 
  The National Broadcasting Commission ( NBC ) says it will sanction Ondo State Television Service (OSTS) for broadcasting hate speech against Gov. Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti during the recent governorship election in the state.

   Director-General of the commission, Alhaji Ishaq Modibbo-Kawu, disclosed this to News Agency of Nigeria  in Ilorin and said that NBC would not tolerate impunity as the 2019 general elections approached. He said the commission would be neutral and apolitical in the discharge of its statutory duties, including the enforcement of the National Broadcasting Code. “From the Ekiti election, one interesting thing played out.

   “We discovered that in a neighbouring state, Ondo, a broadcast station there, the Ondo State Television Service, was broadcasting hate speech against Ekiti Governor, Ayodele Fayose. “For us in NBC, this is against the national broadcasting code and we are going to sanction that particular station. “We do not pick and choose which station to sanction. We monitor all radio and TV broadcasting stations in the country and when you flout the code, you are going to be sanctioned. “On a quarterly basis, we will bring out the list of those we had sanctioned and the reasons and post it in our website and distribute to media houses,” Modibbo-Kawu said.

   He said that the commission recently studied the contents of live broadcast of political rallies and discovered that politicians from the ruling party and the opposition were guilty of hate speech. He said that broadcast stations would, henceforth, be held liable for such infractions against their practice code. “Politicians tend to just say anything on air; they demonize the opponents, they profile them and say the most horrendous things.

  “The political parties are not our licensees, so, we cannot hold them liable. However, the TV stations that broadcast the rally live have an obligation. “We are issuing the report on the studies to the government, political parties and broadcast houses that if you broadcast live materials that flout the national broadcasting code, you are going to be held liable.