The Federal Government (FG) has called on the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to sanction television and radio stations airing “inciting broadcasts” as politicking for the upcoming 2023 general election.
Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture issued the order on Thursday at the inauguration of the Governing Board of the Commission in Abuja.
He also tasked the Board to fast-track the implementation of the government’s Digital Switch Over.
The minister while addressing the reconstituted Board said that “The most important task facing NBC today is to successfully transition the broadcast industry from analogue to digital broadcasting, through the Digital Switch Over (DSO) project. While the NBC is the implementing agency for this all-important project, a Ministerial Task Force on DSO, under my chairmanship, is driving the project.
“As a piece of quick background information, we launched the pilot phase of the project in Jos, Plateau State, on 30 April 2016 and, since then, we have launched the DSO here in the Federal Capital Territory, as well as in Kwara, Kaduna, Enugu, Osun, Lagos and Kano states.
“We have an ambitious plan to fast-track the DSO this year by launching it in at least two states every month. Unfortunately, we have not been able to meet this target.
“But we are working hard to resume the DSO launch as soon as possible. I urge you all to buy into this project to ensure that NBC is able to deliver on what we perceive as a legacy project – because it will change the face of broadcasting in Nigeria.
“Also, please note that as we move closer to the 2023 general elections, NBC will come under increasing pressure to step up its regulatory role to prevent a repeat of what transpired before, during and after the 2019 general elections, when some broadcast stations threw caution to the wind and engaged in inciting, incendiary and unprofessional broadcasts.
“It is important for the Commission to ensure that its licensees adhere strictly to the tenets of the Broadcasting Code.”
