The national regulatory body for electronic media organisations on Friday bared its fang and slammed a big hammer on two media houses for flouting the National Broadcasting Codes. Both TVC News and Arise News were fined N2 million for offences captured at different times.

Director General of NBC Alhaji Balarabe Shehu Ilelah, announced the punishment in separate letters to the management of the affected organisations dated February 3, 2023. The fines, the broadcasting commission said should be paid within two weeks of the receipt of the letters or the sanction would be graduated.

The Commission in its letter to TVC, accused the television station of breaching the following sections of the Code: 1.10.4; 3.1.2; 3.1.2; 3.3.1(e); 4.2.2 (g); 4.2.2 (g); 4.3.1(e); 5.3.3 (c); 5.3.3 (e); 5.3.3 (f); and 5.5.1 (b).

It accused TVC News of allowing derogatory and unfair comments to be broadcast on its station, stressing that the worrisome trend had become a house style on the station.

It said the unprofessional broadcasts by TVC include the Joint media Directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign Council press briefing where Mr. Festus Keyamo SAN said “Obasanjo and Atiku run a criminal enterprise, an empire of fraud in Abuja…” and alleged that some goons of Atiku Abubakar were planning to eliminate Michael Achimugu, a whistle blower.

NBC further accused TVC News of not giving equal news coverage to other political parties in all their news.

Similarly, in the letter to Arise TV, NBC said there were infractions on the following sections of the code: 1.10.4; 3.1.2; 3.3.1(e); 5.3.3 (e); 5.3.3 (f); 5.5.1 (b); 5.5.1 (d); and 5.5.6.

The commission cited the broadcast of the presidential campaign rally of PDP in Delta, interview with former APC Campaign Director, Na’jaatu Muhammed, and broadcast of the PDP presidential campaign rally in Sokoto.

Consequently, NBC slammed Arise Global Media of giving prominence to unfair contents which are glamorised on Arise news programme “What is Trending”.

The fine is the second against the Television in the last 90 days. NBC sanctioned the station for airing fake reports about the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu on November 14,2022.
The television station was fined N2m for breaching the broadcasting code.