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Hate campaign: Buhari bars AIT from his events
The incoming government may be out to take out it pound of flesh from the operators of African Independent Television (AIT) for the hate campaigns it aired against its then presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, during the campaigns.
Security men attached to the president-elect on Monday barred the station’s news crew from covering Buhari’s functions. It was learned that Buhari’s family had raised security issues which prompted the ban.
A report by Vanguard stated that the directive was discreetly given to the correspondent by an official at the Defence House where the crew had gone to cover the visit of the Cuban ambassador to Buhari.
Confirming the issue, Buhari’s media aide, Mallam Garba Shehu said that such warning was given and may be revoked when some security and ethical issues were resolved with the station.
He said: “AIT has been asked to stay aside based on security and family concerns. In addition, Buhari has decided that they will have to resolve some issues relating to issues of standard and ethics.
“We will be talking with them to try and resolve the matter, but for now the station has been asked to stay aside, because like I said there are some family and security concerns. They have been asked to step down their coverage until we resolve the matter with them on ethics and standards.”
When asked whether he should be quoted, Shehu said, “yes you can quote me that I said we have asked them to step aside and that we are resolving the issues of ethics and standards with them.”
He, however, stated that the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, was not involved in the ban, saying the crew was at liberty to attend any official engagements of the President-elect.
Meanwhile, there were feelings that Buhari’s ban of AIT came against the background of the hate documentaries and campaign messages played on the station’s network during the polls.
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Don Lucassi
April 28, 2015 at 7:23 am
Aint a thing wrong about that! I would do the same if I were him. When a media house chooses not to be bi partisan, it should expect a backlash from the party it didnt support. AIT might be seeing its end if it doesnt navigate this turbulent terrain well with the GMB government
Jedimaster
April 28, 2015 at 8:05 am
Fox news has always been republican and has launched thousands of smear campaigns against the Obama administration, that doesn’t mean Obama can shut them down. In the U.K, the Daily Mail is conservative and will attack any government that serves a liberal agenda especially Labour and the Liberal democrats. Freedom of press!
Don Lucassi
April 28, 2015 at 8:37 am
This Jedimaster guy, abeg comot the master for your name. You should be agbojedi instead. Freedom of the press is not when its obvious that the media outlet is paid by one of the parties to smear the other. There is wisdom and subtlety in what Fox does. There is nothing wrong in what GMB has done. Absolutely nothing. You forget that Dokpesi is GEJ’s Chief of Staff and was IBB’s campaign director in 2011 (a PDP Chieftain) http://www.osundefender.org/?p=150369 And please politics in Nigeria aint politics in the UK or US…AGBO JEDI
Jedimaster
April 28, 2015 at 9:03 am
‘There is wisdom and subtlety in what Fox does’. You seem not to have a grasp on how skewed Fox news really is my friend, even in America Fox news is criticized for being pro republican. Go and do your research and come back and we’ll have this conversation.
Tolu
June 19, 2015 at 7:35 pm
Point of note, AIT was not shut down but barred on security grounds….
This could have happened to any other channel or person but they have been openly unsupportive of current government and if they have been flagged as high risk, then so be it…better safe than sorry.
Fox will have a whole lifetime episode on the issue and still keep republicans happy so AIT should copy
Ifenkili
April 28, 2015 at 7:33 am
hahahahaha…this is just the beginning of things to come. Change!!!…Sai Baba
Jedimaster
April 28, 2015 at 8:02 am
Oh dear, freedom of the press is already being curtailed. Perhaps a foreshadowing of things to come….
de don
April 28, 2015 at 8:25 am
Don Lucasis i dey suspect u and this GMB man na your godfather?
Don Lucassi
April 28, 2015 at 8:28 am
If na my Godfather, I don hammer na. I no go even get time to dey seat down follow you yarn…Why u dey butcher my name na?
de don
May 5, 2015 at 6:12 pm
omo leave that thing..chere wayo my blonder
liquasa
April 28, 2015 at 8:26 am
hmm..change will come soon
Apachee zooma
April 28, 2015 at 8:38 am
A bit of history here…While Buhari was a maximum ruler “constraints were placed on various groups, including
the Nigerian Medical Association, which was outlawed, and the National
Association of Nigerian Students, and it promulgated two decrees that
restricted freedom of the press and suppressed criticism of the
government. Decree Number 4 forbade any journalist from reporting
information considered embarrassing to any government official. Two
journalists, Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor, were convicted under the
decree. Decree Number 2 gave the chief of staff at Supreme Headquarters
the power to detain for up to six months without trial anyone considered
a security risk. Special military tribunals increasingly replaced law
courts while the state security agency, the National Security
Organisation, was given greater powers.”
Apachee zooma
April 28, 2015 at 8:43 am
…reasons adduced for the restrictions on AIT, “family, security and ethical issues”. Where are the institutions of state? How will they get strengthened if not tested? Jedi, your head dey there.
Don Lucassi
April 28, 2015 at 9:07 am
NA WA O! Apochee and Agbo jedi, you talking about what the man did as a military leader and comparing it to now? Do you understand that the Jagaban is basically where he is today because he understands the role of media? People decide which press outfit they decide to speak to all the time. Media houses get shut out of the white house and reinstated on a regular basis. The man clearly states that until they finish their talks with AIT on their ethics stand, they should go away. The NTA ran the same campaign video but wasnt banned. Let me do my own piece of history: Dokpesi started as PA to Bamanga Tukur one of the GMs at NPA at the time. Tukur also sent Dokpesi to school from secondary to PHD level. He also worked under Umar Dikko. He was Tukur’s campaign manager to run for the then Gongola state governorship and then his presidential bid in 1993 and same for Adamu Ciroma. What all these men have in common is that they are strong PDP chieftains and you beg to be clarified on where his alliance lie. Please you can be one sided like FOX without airing a hate campaign. Subtlety is the game of politics, not unwise followership because when your side fails, you are left to hang dry. No more on this matter.
specie
April 28, 2015 at 10:03 am
For now, they should air a documentary on “The Otuoke return” or Tom&Jerry cartoons.
damizzle!!
April 28, 2015 at 10:39 am
AIT was ban due to family and ethical concerns,i smell a rat… meanwhile there shouldn’t even be a comparison between FOX and AIT. they are two very different media houses,with very different personalities and different levels of intelligence.
When AIT was airing their rubbish,they never envisaged that buhari would ever be president,and even went ahead to demand 100billion from the jagaban himself.but now the story is different and they are running to air his events.Shame on them!!! sai baba pursue them with brooms.
Apachee zooma
April 28, 2015 at 11:39 am
Hahahahaha! Don, you dey worry o. You are absolutely right …Jagaban himself built his political might around the media. Just worried that Mr in-coming is giving himself away too early…reputation management. Guess, you missed my other post that talked about strengthening our institutions rather than resorting to self-help. Very worried.
hello bae!!!
April 28, 2015 at 12:22 pm
things are beginning to hapen,so dis is how u want to start ur administration ehhh?? u berra calm down…u stil need d media one way or the other.
Gracious Store
April 28, 2015 at 6:51 pm
Mr. President elect, please be informed that you do not only have to change your attire from that of the military to civilian, you must now learn to think and act like a democratic president that Nigerians have elected you to be. You do not have any option as a democratically elected president-elect than to throw your door open to every media outlet. The power of democracy is based on informed electorate. The source of information the electorate receives is from the media whether the reporting is true or not, exaggerated or photoshopped to suit the reporters’ intent. It is the democrat right of the citizens to receive information from all media outlets of their choice and then make decision on what information to digest and which to jettison.
Mr. President elect you do not have any constitutional right or privilege to ban any media from your events, you are no longer a private man, your life and that of your family is now out for public scrutiny. If you cannot withstand the intrusion of the media in your life and that of your family, please Mr Buhari, we ask you that step aside and hand the mantle of democratic leadership to someone who is open to the microscopic scrutiny that comes with democratic leadership.
Mr. Buhari you have nothing to worry about your security and safety of your family, you know better than every other person that you and your family are very well protected and in good hands of secret services, so please do not use the pretense of the security of your family to ban any media from any event you will either attend or host as long as you remain the president elect of Nigeria.
Sorry Mr. Buhari and his family, you no longer have private life, this is the unfortunate truth and you must have to accept it and live with it for the next four years until Nigerians decide again if you will continue to hold the mantle of democratic leadership come 2019.
Mr. Buhari, while you go through the hand over process be humble enough to ask President Goodluck how he handled the criticisms and scrutiny of the media and Nigerian public, if you have nothing to learn from your predecessor, President Goodluck, this is the one thing you must learn. You are no more a military junter and dictator, you are now a democratic president-elect and you must be open to the menacing criticisms and scrutiny of the media.
Let your family ask Mrs. Patience Jonathan what it means to be in the public eye. If they want to be the first family in a democratic Nigeria,they must also accept what goes with the joy and dignity of being the first family. So Buhari’s family be open to the media. The Media will never in anyway jeopardize your safety. The media will follow and report to Nigerians how you are carrying yourselves in your elevated position as the first family of Nigeria, so please relax and freely interract with all media outlets
Mr. Buhari, remember that how you deal with the media will determine whether you will complete the first four years of your presidency or not, know that Nigeria is maturing politically and the very people that elected have the power to unseat you so please be democratic and never suppress the media in any way. Nigerians have the right to present in every event you host or attend as our president-elect and the media is our source of information. We as Nigerians do not want to be restricted in the source we receive our information from.
damizzle!!
April 29, 2015 at 3:03 pm
its too long na hian!