Pro-Democracy Group for Good Governance (PDGGG) has described the sanction placed on a private radio station, Adaba FM, by the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) as “illogical and anti-democratic”.
It noted that the sanction hinged on the airing of a programme said to be critical of the government.
A statement by its Coordinator, Akinwumi Bayode, said: “This kind of development is anti-democratic and totally unacceptable. In the letter to the management, the NBC fined the station N200,000 for allowing its guests criticise the government during the programme.
“To us, this is contrary to the tenets of democracy in terms of freedom of speech and the right to freely criticise the government, as the constitution guarantees freedom of expression.
“The NBC stated in this letter that was later communicated to the resource persons of the programme, Comrade Gani Mohammed Ajowa and Jimi Adekanle, by the station claiming both men maligned Governor Olusegun Mimiko, his programmes and governance with name calling and unsubstantiated claims.
“It simply said it breached the provisions of the Nigeria Code of Conduct on political broadcast.
“The programme, “Ondo State Public Square”, was said to have run foul of the law is not a political broadcast as alleged by the NBC but a current affairs programme which usually evaluates governance by conducting integrity test on the performance of government and government officials.
“The letter also frowned at the station for not inviting representative of government to ensure a balanced view point.