By Chuks Okocha in Abuja
Chairman of Daar Communications Plc, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, has accused the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) of undue harassment and intimidation of African Independent Television/Raypower with the intention of gagging the press.
Dokpsei who led the management team of AIT/Raypower radio in a protest to the National Assembly and Embassies, also accused the Director General of NBC, Modibo Ishaq Kawo, of incompetence, bias and partisanship in the management of television and radio regulatory agency.
He further urged the presidency to sack Modibo for bringing affairs of the commission to disrepute.
Dokpesi who took time to trace the role the media house in Nigeria’s chequered history of struggle against military rule and for press freedom said, “our audiences who were unborn or were too young to track our pedigree in this industry, it is important to emphasise that DAAR Communications Plc has played this important role and stood by the tenets of the profession since we started broadcasting in 1993. We have suffered harassment from successive governments since the days of General Sanni Abacha and the struggle for democracy in Nigeria.
“For the benefit of our detractors that attribute our positions to partisan politics, allow me recap some of the notable critical positions we took against successive PDP administrations starting with President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999: Tenure Presidency, Party Issue 1999 – 2007
Olusegun Obasanjo PDP 3rd Term Agenda 2007 – 2011. Umaru Yar’Adua, PDP Doctrine of Necessity, 2011 – 2015 Goodluck Jonathan PDP Fuel Subsidy Removal
“Many of our viewers who raised the loudest plaudits for our actions then are now part of and hold senior positions in the ruling party, the APC. They know and understand the power of the media and a free press and understand that the pen is mightier than the sword if their government is compromised or found wanting. DAAR Communications Plc remains one of the few remaining independent media organisations operating without any fear or hindrance.
“We cannot separate the proclamations from senior members of the Buhari presidency, the demolition of our security infrastructure by the FCDA, the threatening letters and fines from the industry regulator and a number of other actions we have been duly notified of being plotted and in the pipelines, from desperate attempts to gag, muzzle, restrain and impair our operations and reportage.”
More details later…
