For its continuous violation of broadcasting code, the National Broadcasting Commission has fined DAAR Communications N500,000.
DAAR Communications is the owner of African Independent Television, AIT, and Raypower, a radio station.
The sanction was announced by NBC’s Head of Public Affair, Mrs. Maimuna Jimada, in a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja.
Political Platform, a Raypower programme, and its anchors were said to have contravened the broadcasting rule through comments considered to be provocative, inflammatory and divisive.
NBC said it had to sanction the organisation after efforts to make it comply with the broadcasting code failed.
NBC said meetings were held with staff of the organisation on the need to maintain good standard but no success was made of it.
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Jimada’s statement reads in part: “The Political Platform episode on July 24, was marked by sensational and heated expression of opinion by its anchors, who went on to make unproven and inciting allegations.
“For avoidance of doubt, the Director-General drew the attention of DAAR Communications to the following provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code: (1) Section 1.9.3: ‘A presenter/anchor shall not express his or her personal opinion in a programme.’
“Also Section 5.2.7: ‘A broadcaster shall, in using political material for news, avoid taking inflammatory and divisive matter in its provocative form’ and Section 5.2.5 stated that political broadcasts shall be in decent language.”
The NBC in the statement stressed the need for broadcasting organisations to train their staff adequately and ensure compliance with the ethics of the profession.
