As the release of the records containing the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigations of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar approaches, his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, has claimed that the administration of President Bola Tinubu-led administration has perfected a sinister plot to gag the media.
It was merely the tip of the iceberg, he added, that the NBC’s threat to punish Arise Television News represented.
According to a statement released by Shaibu on Sunday, the NBC has been keeping an eye on media outlets like Television Continental (TVC) as they have attacked Atiku and refused to carry any opposing viewpoints.
He said that Tinubu’s administration was organising a major offensive in response to the Chicago State University affair.
Shaibu continued, “Back in February, the NBC tried to show a bit of fairness and fined TVC for unprofessional broadcasts, including the airing of the Joint Media Directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign Council press briefing, in which Festus Keyamo said Obasanjo and Atiku ran a criminal enterprise and an empire of fraud in Abuja.
The NBC, however, has become more politicised than ever since Tinubu became president on May 29. Obviously concerned with keeping his job, NBC head Balarabe Ilelah is now toeing the line laid out by the APC and their master in the Presidential Villa.
The NBC has been recruited to help silence the press on the certificate crisis involving Tinubu. They lost the war of public opinion and are now attempting to suppress the press through the coercive force of the state. A individual who claimed to be a hero of the June 12 struggle should be ashamed of himself for doing this.
Shaibu said the Nigerian media shouldn’t exhibit any signs of weakness at the moment.
He emphasised that this month’s release of the FBI’s cache of records would reveal information about the investigation into Tinubu.
The information must not be disseminated solely through social media, according to Atiku’s adviser. As Section 22 of the 1999 constitution states, the media has a responsibility to serve as a watchdog of society.
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