APC petitions NBC over Arise TV, Channels’ reports on Tinubu

The Presidential Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress has petitioned the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), asking for sanctions against Arise TV and Channels TV over their reports on the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on his alleged drug trafficking case in the United States.

The campaign council, in a petition signed by the Special Adviser, Media, Communications and Public Affairs of the PCC, Dele Alake, which was addressed to the NBC Director-General, Balarabe Shehu Ilelah, on Monday, accused both television stations of breaching broadcast codes with their actions.

According to campaign council, the purported indictment against Tinubu as reported and discussed on Arise News and Channels TV had already been cleared in a correspondence between the former Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Tafa Balogun, and the United States Government.

It further stated that the continued broadcast of a non-existing “indictment” violated the NBC code.

“The case in question, which did not indict our candidate, has since been overtaken by events after interrogation and correspondences between then Inspector General of Police Tafa Balogun in 2003 and the United States government. The US Justice Department in a letter dated 4th February, 2003, issued by the Lagos Consulate of the United States Embassy cleared our candidate. The letter was signed by Michael Bonner, the Consulate’s legal attache.

“The Campaign Council was therefore surprised that certain media houses, such as ARISE News and Channels TV among others, went ahead to transmit and broadcast issues purportedly indicting our candidate in violation of section 3,3 I of the Code which says that:

“The Broadcaster shall

“(a) Ensure that any information given in a programme in whatever form is accurate.

“We believe that the operators of the stations, by their professional standing, should have access to research platforms to verify information before dishing it to the public,” the petition read.

It further accused both stations of using the already cleared document in their interviews of the spokesperson of the APC Presidential Campaign Council and Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, and the spokesman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) respectively.

The campaign council said both stations went further to broadcast a letter purportedly issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) stating that the electoral umpire was investigating Tinubu.

“This was also against the NBC code, which forbids broadcasting fake news.

“Notwithstanding the broadcast of the falsehood peddled by opposition elements, ARISE TV and Channels TV went ahead to transmit and circulate a fake letter insinuating that the Independent National Electoral Commission has initiated an investigation of the APC Presidential candidate premised on the fake letter in circulation.

“Section 5.1.2 states that ‘The Broadcaster shall present news as factual and in correct and fair manner without (a) Distortion, Exaggerations or Misrepresentation.

“Section 5.1.3 further states that ‘Fake News is prohibited’.

“The fake INEC letter has been proven to be fake and this breach is tantamount to disinformation.

“Arise TV has admitted guilt to this in a broadcast few days ago. We make bold to say that in 2014 the AIT transmitted a TV documentary ‘The Lion of Bourdillon’ to which the NBC sanctioned it and it apologized to the victim.

“However, only last week Chief Bode George, a chieftain of the PDP in an interview on Arise TV referred to materials from the documentary to vilify our Presidential candidate in breach of the Code and the apology granted the victim.

“These breaches attract a sanction of Class B and we implore the National Broadcasting Commission to invoke the aforementioned sections to penalize ARISE TV and Channels TV for breach of the Broadcast code. Section 5.3.3 of the code states that ‘The Broadcaster shall (b) in using Political materials for News and current Affairs Programmes avoid hate speech, inflammatory, Derogatory and Divisive remarks or Allusions’,” the APC Presidential Campaign Council added.

It continued: “Our presidential candidate was vilified and denigrated as an indicted offender and law breaker in the US court case by ARISE TV and Channels TV during their broadcasts in the last week, such as The Morning Show and Politics Today respectively.

“Section 3.1.2 of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code also states that – ‘The Broadcaster shall not transmit any programme, programme promotion, community service announcement or station identity which is likely in any circumstance to provoke or perpetuate in a reasonable person intense dislike, serious contempt or severe ridicule against a person or groups of people…’

“For the effect of reference of powers to sanction erring broadcasters, The Code states in Chapter One, Section 1.1 (h) ‘The Power to establish and disseminate the code is derived from the provisions of Section 2 (1) (h) of the NBC Act, which is its enabling law’.

“We hereby request the National Broadcasting Commission to sanction the offending stations in the name of justice and in protection of the rights of our candidate as well as avoidance of future reoccurrence,” the PCC noted.

The Star

Segun Ojo