In Rivers State, violence broke out at the Independent National Electoral Commission office in Port Harcourt the states capital, after thugs alleged to be loyal to the Peoples Democratic Party clashed with some members of the All Progressives Congress.
The governorship candidate of the APC in the State, Tonye Cole had arrived at the INEC office to inspect materials used for the Governorship election that was held on March 18th, when the fracas began.
In a move to maintain press freedom, The Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, has called the attention of the Nigerian Government to what it terms the flagrant violation of the Nigerian Broadcasting Code by the National Broadcasting Commission.
In two separate letters addressed to the minister of information and Culture, Lai Mohammed signed by the Executive Secretary of BON, the organization says Nigerian broadcast stations no longer trust the professional judgment of the NBC in the areas of imposition of fines for alleged infractions.
It faulted the imposition of a N5M fine on a broadcast station for an alleged infraction during a live programme that featured the Labour Party Vice Presidential candidate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed saying that NBC relied on a petition by the media and publicity committee of a political party to impose the fine without any major investigation. In a letter dated March 30th, the APC campaign council’s media director, Bayo Onanuga had said that Datti Baba-Ahmed’s comments were not only divisive and subversive but also inciting and inflammatory.
The complaint comes as the Nigerian Media Complaints Commission also known as to National Ombudsman, set up to check the excesses and infractions in the practice of print and online journalism in Nigeria was inaugurated on Monday.
Finally, in Enugu State, Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka who is quite famous for his controversial political stance, has again stirred up another controversy. Over the weekend, the clergy man during a sermon, claimed that during the just concluded elections, Nigerians referred to the father, mother, and child in a political party’s logo as God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit while encouraging people to vote for the party’s candidate.
Although the Reverend father did not mention the name of the party, users on social media have alleged that he was referring to the Labour Party.
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