The Federal Government has warned that the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) will come hard on any broadcast station that breaches the broadcast ethics.
The latest warning may not be unconnected with the recent interviews granted Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom and a former Navy Commodore, Kunle Olawunmi, by Channels Television.
Both interviews did not go down well with the Presidency, leading to NBC inviting the presenters of Channels Television and threatened to sanction the broadcast station.
Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday on the sideline of the 64th Conference of the UN World Tourism Organisation Commission for Africa and the Second Edition of the UNWTO Global Tourism Investment Forum, in Sal Island, Cape Verde, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that the National Broadcasting Commission and other regulators would ensure that broadcast stations abide by statutory laws and ethics.
He said any station that violated the broadcast code and ethics would be “shown the red card.
“We agree that there are challenges but the government is doing its best in addressing insecurity, banditry, insurrections, and fixing the economy.
“What one expected from these leaders at this trying period is support and encouragement.
“It is, however, quite disturbing that they have thrown caution to the winds and it is no longer about leadership and maturity but about who can say something that can break this country.
“Certain words that we were afraid of using before such as genocide and ethnic cleansing, are now taking over the media waves.
“That is why it is important to call everybody to order to appeal to their sense of patriotism that they should understand that because there is a country called Nigeria, that is why they are leaders.
“If what they are praying for happens, they will no longer be leaders but servants in other countries.”
