The Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, has asked the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, to stop abridging the right of Nigerians to free speech and refrain from arbitrary enforcement of laws it does not have.
Senator Abaribe speaking in a statement by his Media Adviser, Uchenna Awom, against the backdrop of the imposition of a fine of N3m to each of AIT, Channels TV, and Arise TV over their reportage of the Lekki shooting in Lagos by the NBC, said the commission by that unfortunate action ran foul of Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended and as such must rescind that decision.
Section 39, he pointed out specifically, made it clear that “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.”
Continuing, the Minority Leader opined that Section 39 (2) also stated without equivocation that “Without prejudice to the generality of Subsection (1) of this Section, every person shall be entitled to own, establish and operate any medium for the dissemination of information, ideas, and opinions.”
Senator Abaribe, therefore, asked the NBC to rescind the decision to sanction the aforementioned broadcast stations on the basis that they violated the broadcasting code during the #Endsars protest, particularly the alleged shooting of protesters in Lekki toll gate.
“The sanction is an illegal, provocative, and clear case of willful abuse of power and a deliberate assault on the freedom of the press and of free speech. This time as precarious as we know calls for deep introspection and empathy for victims and their families.
“It is not a time for this kind of illegal action by the agencies of government, as no law passed by the National Assembly nor the Constitution gives the NBC powers to impose such sanctions,” he said.
Senator Abaribe, nonetheless, advised the three broadcast stations to approach the court for the enforcement of their fundamental rights in the circumstance.