Polls Coverage: SERAP Urges Caution As FG Threatens To Shut Down Broadcast Stations

Socio-Econimic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari to order Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed and National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to urgently withdraw the ‘last warning’ and threat to revoke licences and shut broadcast stations over post-election coverage.

It threatened legal action to compel the current administration to comply with the request in public interest.

The NBC had, last week, threatened to revoke the licences of broadcast stations and shut them down if they continue to allow “unpatriotic individuals on their platforms to make utterances that are subversive, hateful, inciting in the post-2023 presidential election.”

But in a letter dated yesterday and signed by deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP said the threat, if not immediately withdrawn, would limit freedom of expression and ability of broadcast stations to cover important issues around the 2023 general elections.

According to the organisation, the warning “is clearly incompatible with Nigeria’s constitutional and international human rights obligations.”

It continued: “Political expression is a fundamental right. The threat by NBC creates a significant risk that legitimate expression may be prohibited.

“Such unlawful prohibition may prevent transparency and dissemination of information on legitimate issues of public interest around the 2023 general elections.

“The threat may produce a direct impact on the work of broadcast stations in ways that are inconsistent with right to freedom of expression, access to information and media freedom.

“Your government has a legal responsibility to ensure an environment in which a diverse range of political opinions and ideas around the general elections can be freely and openly expressed and debated.

“The threat by the NBC is neither necessary nor proportionate, as it would unduly intrude upon Nigerians’ right to freedom of expression, access to information and media freedom.

“The use of vague and undefined phrases such as ‘unpatriotic individuals’ ‘subversive, hateful and inciting utterances, particularly post-election as grounds to threaten shutdown of broadcast stations is inconsistent and incompatible with human rights requirements.

“The Nigerian Constitution and human rights treaties impose legal obligations on your government to refrain from imposing restrictions, which are not consistent with human rights requirements, including discussion of political and election-related issues.”