The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has asked the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to fine Channels Television over comments credited to the vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Datti Baba-Ahmed.
The APC Presidential Campaign Council described as a “case of unguarded utterance” the statement by Baba-Ahmed on Channels TV programme, Politics Today, that if “President Buhari should hand over to the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, by May 29, that would be the end of democracy”.
The campaign stressed that Baba-Ahmed’s comments are not only “divisive, subversive, but also inciting and inflammatory”.
It would be recalled that the LP’s vice-presidential candidate, while speaking on Channels TV, urged the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola, not to swear in the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, on May 29, 2023, as the president of the country.
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He said there is no President-elect because Tinubu did not allegedly meet the requirements of the constitution.
However, the Director, Media and Publicity APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, in a letter dated March 30, 2023, and addressed to the NBC Director-General, said Baba-Ahmed’s statement was “subversive”.
Onanuga stated: “The guest on the programme in question Datti Baba-Ahmed said the president of the country Muhammadu Buhari should not swear in the president-elect because he did not score 25% vote in the FCT, being one of the prerequisites for being declared winner.
“This is a subversive statement since the matter is before the tribunal and is among the issues submitted in the petition to the courts for adjudication.
“Therefore until and unless the court rules otherwise, the status quo is the INEC position as declared in the final results.
“It is our considered opinion that the guest Datti Baba-Ahmed was not only provocative but also inciting the public and the LP followers to delegitimize the outcome of the elections but also propagate resistance against the incoming duly elected administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kashim Shettima.”
He added that Channels TV breached the NBC rules by allowing Baba-Ahmed to make the statements.
“We therefore urged the Commission to invoke the necessary sanctions on Channels TV for the breaches,” Onanuga said.
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