NUJ, NBC Slam Zamfara Govt Over Broadcast Stations Closure 

Some Media Stakeholders  have faulted the decision of the Zamfara State Government to shut down the Federal Government and privately owned broadcast stations in the State on the grounds of disobeying an Executive Order not to air political activities in the State.
In a statement signed by the Director General, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Balarabe Illela, the commission declared the State Government’s action illegal and called for a reversal .
“National Broadcasting Commission has noted with serious concern the illegal action of Zamfara State Government by directing the shutdown of operations of licensees of the Commission in the State, on Saturday, October 15, 2022.
“The NBC has clearly notified the State Government of the gravity of the illegality and requested it to expeditiously reverse the directive and apologise to the people of the State.
“We also urge the security agencies to ignore the call to restrict staff of the affected stations from conducting their legitimate duties.
“The Commission wishes to further emphasise that it will resist ANY attempt to cause a breach of law and order ANYWHERE through the misuse of the broadcast media in Nigeria, before, during and after the 2023 national election.
“We call on all industry stakeholders to resist any attempt to truncate the hard-earned democratic gains in Nigeria,” Mr Illela said.
The country’s apex media regulatory body advised persons or institutions who have grievances against broadcast stations to follow due process.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) has described the decision as an embarrassing error.
The union called on the State Government to quickly rescind the ban to allow the press perform its functions accordingly.
The statement, signed by the union’s National Secretary, Shuaibu Leman, said the media has a role in monitoring security agencies and ensuring that the public is updated.
“For a State Government to arbitrarily override a section of the Nigerian Constitution and the National Broadcasting Commission NBC code, in a democracy like ours, which recognizes the role of mass media, and the freedom of expression for its citizens, speaks volumes of the level of impunity the country has descended into,” the statement said.
Leman further cautioned that the decision by the state government could “aggravate the already fragile nature of security in the state.”