Lai Mohammed: 'I didn’t ask NBC to shut down BBNaija'

Contrary to the reports that Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture made a move to shut down the Big Brother Naija reality show, the minister has denied the report.

Mohammed was reported to have ordered the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, NBC, to suspend the show due to COVID-19 risks

Following the reports, Nigerians criticised the minister on social media for allegedly planning to have the show shut down.

But, the minister, in a statement by his media aide debunked the media claim saying the ‘report was not credited to the minister’.

Describing the report as speculative, the minister said there was no memo to support the claim that he ordered the NBC to suspend the show on DSTV.

The statement reads, “The report was not credited to the minister. That statement is not credited to the minister. We will not dignify speculative reports; if a minister issues a directive, it will not be issued verbally.

“There’s going to be a memo to that effect that he will send; anybody that is sure that the minister made that statement should provide a memo.

“Like I said earlier, we will not dignify speculative report; if you tune your satellite TV to channel 198, I am sure Big Brother Naija is still airing, contrary to the speculative report that the minister has ordered NBC to suspend the show.”