Ogun state television management faults censorship accusation against station

The management of Ogun State Television (OGTV) has faulted the claim of a group under the aegis of Concern Indigenes of Ogun State, alleging the media house of being partisan in the airing of campaign of political parties in the state.

The group led by Barrister Femi Oniyide it is recalled at a press conference held on Thursday at Iwe-Iroyin Press Centre, Abeokuta, accused the station of censorship, with focus only on the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign

Penpushing reports that in response to the accusation, the Acting General Manager of the station, Tunde Kassim in a statement said the management found the contents of the said press conference as a smear campaign to dent and tarnish the good image of the television station.

The management declared that the convener of the group without seeking facts directly from the Ogun State Television, Abeokuta to corroborate the wild claims and allegations thrown in the text of his address.

‘The attention of the Ogun State Television, Abeokuta has been drawn to the above-titled being the text of a Press Conference delivered by one Femi Oniyide Esq. on Thursday, 23rd February, 2023 at the Iwe Iroyin Press Centre, Abeokuta’, Kassim wrote.

The Management of the Ogun State Television found the contents of the said press conference as a smear campaign to dent and tarnish the good image of the Ogun State Television for mischievous, selfish and any other personal reason(s) known to the Convener in conceiving the press conference without seeking facts directly from the Ogun State Television, Abeokuta to corroborate the wild claims and allegations thrown in the text of his address’, he added.

‘The National Broadcasting Commission, which is the regulatory organ for broadcast media in Nigeria has held several parleys with media organisations and also continued to interface regularly with media organisations to ensure strict compliance with the Broadcast code and other extant law(s) by other regulatory organs not limited to the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON)’.

‘Our coverage of the 2023 General Elections has been guided by the extant provisions of the National Broadcasting Code and the Electoral Act (as amended) and can boldly say that as a responsible media organ, we have adhered strictly to the provisions of such codes pertaining to political broadcast and would not want the public to be misguided by the insinuations made by the convener of the press conference’.

‘For the records, we extended invitation to all the political parties which registered their presence (with the Ogun State Office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the addresses provided and contact persons indicated) to feature on special programmes designed for the Elections’.

‘Each Party Chairman or Secretary can feature on either Soap Box or Agenda 2023; while confirmed candidates by INEC could feature on Ijoba Awarawa. We discovered that some of the political parties could neither be reached at the addresses provided or contacted on the phone numbers indicated and therefore produced jingles to sensitize and invite them to take advantage of our political programming and coverage. Unfortunately, most of the parties did not take advantage of this opportunity’.

‘Without any fear of contradiction, we confirm that we undertook coverage of the activities of the different political parties which made serious approach to us. Political Parties were also enjoined to ensure that their packaged political programmes conform with NBC guidelines as they will not be permitted for transmission to avoid flouting clear NBC guidelines on Political coverage’.

‘It is unsurprising that the press conference could not detail any particular incident in which any party was denied coverage upon direct approach to our Marketing Department or Political Coverage Committee set up in line with NBC direction’.

‘Let it be known that we shall continue to give coverage as a Public Commercial Broadcasting Service in line with the provisions of the aforementioned regulatory organs and laws once the window opens again after the conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly Elections on Saturday, 25th February, 2023’.

‘All political parties are enjoined to make direct approach to the OGTV Marketing Department or 2023 Political Coverage Committee. To good credit, the Ogun State Television has not ran foul or been sanctioned by the NBC or ARCON for violation of any of the extant laws or regulations, whereas many stations have been reprimanded. This is to set the records straight’, Kassim emphasized

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