Baba-Ahmed: Tinubu petitions NBC to sanction Channels TV

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the President-elect, has filed a petition to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) demanding that Channels Television be sanctioned for violating the Nigerian Broadcasting Code.

Tinubu alleges that during an interview with the Vice Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Datti Baba-Ahmed, the channel breached broadcasting regulations.

The petition was signed by Bayo Onanuga, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council Director of Media and Publicity, and is dated March 30th, 2023.

Why Tinubu thinks Channels TV should be sanctioned

Tinubu specifically accused Baba-Ahmed of making several comments attacking the integrity of the February 25th, 2023 Presidential elections, and criticising Tinubu's emergence as President-elect.

Tinubu asserts that the host of the show should have cautioned Baba-Ahmed for making such unguarded comments and that for failing to do so, the station should be sanctioned.

The petition cites various sections of the Nigerian Broadcasting Code 6th edition to support Tinubu's request for sanctions on Channels TV. It notes that Baba Ahmed's comments on the show were subversive, divisive, and inflammatory.

He suggested that the INEC certificate of return issued to Tinubu was a "dud cheque" and null and void, and that if "President Buhari should hand over to the President-elect by 29th May, that would be the end of democracy."

Tinubu alleges that such statements violate the NBC Code and should not be allowed to air.