The socio economic rights and accountability project, over the weekend faulted the warning issued to the Arise News Channel, by the National Broadcasting Corporation over an alleged violation of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.
The Director-General of NBC, Balarabe llelah issued the final warning to Arise, stating that the commission had observed with concern the preponderance of incendiary remarks by guests featured on Arise News. One of the guests referred to in the letter is the Spokesperson for the Labour Party, Kenneth Okonkwo who appeared on NewsDay on October 6th.
NBC stated in the letter, that Okonkwo used derogatory remarks on Air. In response, Okonkwo in a lengthy post on instagram described the letter as an outright infringement of his fundamental human rights as guaranteed by the 1999 constitution and that the import of the letter, was to intimidate him and Arise News. SERAP has urged the NBC to withdraw the said final warning to Arise otherwise the commission would be charged to court.
In the meantime, the presidential candidate of the peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar has alleged that the Tinubu administration has already perfected an elaborate and sinister plot to gag the media ahead of the release of the records containing the President’s alleged criminal investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku stated that the Tinubu administration had become frustrated with the Chicago State University scandal and that it was planning a massive offensive in the coming days. Atiku explained that the threat by the National Broadcasting Commission to sanction Arise News was only a tip of the iceberg and added that the NBC had been watching as Tinubu’s media platforms like TVC have been constantly attacking him and have refused to even air opposition views.
He also stated that back in February the NBC tried to show a bit of fairness and fined TVC for unprofessional broadcasts including the airing of the Joint media Directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign Council press briefing, where Festus Keyamo said Obasanjo and Atiku ran a criminal enterprise and an empire of fraud in Abuja, but that since Tinubu became president on May 29th, the NBC has become more partisan than ever.
Festus Keyamo, the minister of aviation and aerospace development, while reacting to a now viral 2019 tweet; in which he stated that Forgery occurs when the supposed author of a document denies ever making it or denies its authenticity while defending Buhari’s WAEC certificate attempted to clarify his statements Taking to X on Sunday, the minister stated that until the vendor who issued a replacement certificate to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu denies the document, there is no case against him.
Afrobeats superstar, Davido has been embroiled in controversy, after former Nigeria football federation President, Amaju Pinnik accused him of reneging on a contract to perform at a festival held in Delta State, on October 6th. Taking to his Instagram story on Sunday, the musician told his fans that he had notified the event organisers in advance that he wouldn’t be able to attend the concert but that the organizers insisted in promoting the show using his name. In a reminder letter to davido dated September 29th the organizers stated that Davido signed a contract on March 30th and was paid the sum of $94,500 dollars to headline the show.
The organizers also stated that they paid an additional $18K for a private jet to convey the superstar and his crew to the event. Videos of Davido promoting the concert have since gone viral on social media.
Arise News Pays Tribute to Christopher Oladipo Ogunbanjo, a legal icon and businessman, who died on Saturday October 7th, at the age of 99, just two months before his 100th birthday. Ogunbanjo, was an early advocate of domiciliary accounts in Nigeria, which later came to existence through the declaration of the Foreign Currency Decree 18 of 1985.
In the late 1960s, he was among the group of businessmen who supported local equity participation in foreign firms operating in Nigeria. As a business leader in Nigeria, he was an articulate spokesman for the organised private sector and has over the years displayed good judgement in his various comments on the direction of the Nigerian economy.
Ogunbanjo was born on December 14th 1923, in Ogun state. He attended St. Phillips primary school, in Ile-Ife before proceeding to Oduduwa college, Ife for his secondary education in 1936.
He then obtained a law degree in 1949 at the University of London and was called to the bar in 1950. Ogunbanjo began his legal practice in 1950 as a partner in a law firm then known as Samuel, Chris & Michael, with Michael Odesanya and Ladoke Akintola former premier of Western Nigeria.
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