The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has sanctioned 45 broadcast stations for airing electioneering campaigns during which questionable language was used.
Some of the stations are the National Television Authority (NTA), Channels Television, TVC, African Independent Television (AIT), among others.
Each station is expected to pay N500,000.
Modibbo Kawu, the NBC Director General, also said the commission would close down any station that contravenes the provision of the code of conduct for broadcast media.
Speaking on Friday in Abuja while addressing journalists on the monitoring of the 2019 electioneering broadcasting and campaigns, he said: “A total of 45 broadcast stations across Nigeria that have been sanctioned and would pay the highest sum that the Nigeria Broadcasting Code allows, are advised to remit at the due date to avoid graduated sanctions provided for in Section 14.3.2.6 of the Code.
“At the end of the presidential elections held on the 23rd of February, 2019, the following stations were found culpable of infractions of the provisions of the Code and have been sanctioned, accordingly. They violated Sections 5.2.12, 7.6.6 and 7.6.7 of the Code.
“National Broadcasting Commission, as part of its mandate, commenced monitoring of the 2019 electioneering broadcasts and campaign, to ensure professionalism, good taste and decency in the election process.”
“We want to warn that stations that continue to use hate and inflammatory comments that threaten the security of the country will be shut down.
“The next step is not to sanction them and make them pay N500,000 but we are going to close down any stations that takes the next step in terms of these infractions.”
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