Radio station general manager suspended for criticising governor

The Acting General Manager of Legacy FM, a private radio station in Ebonyi State, Godfrey Chikwere has been suspended by the management following his criticism of Governor Francis Nwifuru, both during radio broadcasts and on social media.

Penpushing reports that the management made the suspension announcement with immediate effect on the radio station on Saturday, accusing Chikwere of flouting the station’s code of conduct.

“The management of Legacy FM 95.1, The Sound of Now, hereby suspends the acting general manager, Godfrey Chikwere with immediate effect, till further notice. This is due to unruly behaviour and disobedience to the code of conduct guiding the Legacy FM. With such effect, he is hereby directed to hand over all the company property in his position to the next senior officer’, the statement reads

Penpushing further reports that the suspended radio station boss known to have been critical of Nwifuru’s administration in recent times, on his facebook post on Friday urged the Governor to take decisive action to protect his image and that of Ebonyi State.

The embattled Acting General Manager claimed that public perception of the governor’s administration was deteriorating, and criticised the administration for what he described as poor communication, underperformance by appointees, and unfulfilled pronouncements.

Penpushing also reports that Chikwere who had previously worked with Ebonyi State Broadcasting Corporation, before he was appointed the general manager of the private station in 2023.cautioned that the governor’s goodwill was dwindling and advised him to step on toes to achieve results.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor Monday Uzor in response condemned Chikwere’s criticisms of the administration, describing criticisms as unfounded, and described him as an ingrate to have used his platforms to attack the governor despite the radio station benefiting from government support.

“It is regrettable that despite the radio station thriving only on government support, the supposed helmsman dedicates a greater percentage of the station’s airtime to attack and run down the government whose support has kept his medium afloat’, he said.

‘For the avoidance of doubt, the governor gifted the medium a brand new Changan SUV, donated a brand new transformer that powers the station, constructed the road leading to the broadcasting house,” he stated.

‘But rather than give at least balanced coverage of government activities, it has been turned into a slaughter house of the governor’s genuine development efforts and goodwill, what a way to be ungrateful to good deeds!”, Uzor added

Penpushing reports that the Chief Press Secretary urged the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to intervene in the matter, also called on Nigerians to disregard the critic, whom he claimed was attempting to suppress the state’s rising profile.

The Commissioner for Information in Ebonyi State, Ikeuwa Omebeh, in same vein, in a statement condemned Chikwere’s criticisms of the Governor describing them as derogatory and inciting.

Penpushing further reports that he accused the journalist of overstepping his bounds, emphasizing that such remarks were unacceptable and an affront to the collective identity of the Ebonyi State people.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner while noting that the Ebonyi state government welcomes constructive criticism, however, warned against attempts to incite citizens against their leaders.

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