The Federal government has suspended the licence of Channels Television with a fine of N5 million for allegedly breaching the broadcast code.
The suspension order was conveyed to the station by the regulator – National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) – acting on behalf of the Federal government.
In a letter to the Managing Director of Channels Television signed by the Acting Director General of the Commission, NBC, Prof. Armstrong Idachaba, the Commission referred to Channels 7pm live broadcast programme of Sunday, April 25, 2021, in which it accused the TV station of allowing a leader of the Indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) to make secessionist and inciting declarations on air without caution or reprimand by the station contrary to the broadcast code.
It also accused the station of allowing the guest speaker to make derogatory, false and misleading statements about the Nigerian army, despite being proscribed by a court of law.