Closure of AIT attempt to gag media, stifle public opinion, says PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned relentless attempt by All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government to gag the media as being witnessed in attacks on Africa Independent Television (AIT) by government agencies, especially the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said: “It is evident that the attack on AIT is targeted at intimidating and gaging the media, repress constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and stifle public opinion.

“This is particularly as it relates to Nigerians’ determination to retrieve the stolen mandate at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.”

The statement added that the clamp down on AIT and an earlier siege on other media houses and journalists under the APC administration, pointed to a plot to startle and asphyxiate the media.

It also argued that the shut down outlets perceived to be holding dissenting views was being carried out to ultimately foist a siege mentality on Nigerians with a view to restraining them from demanding fairness and justice in the nation’s polity.

“The APC is mortally afraid that a free press will raise the red flag and expose its manipulations and any attempt to subvert the course of justice, especially in the Presidential Petition Tribunal, hence this desperation to strangulate the media and cow Nigerians from freely expressing themselves,” it added.

It further urged Nigerians to note that Director General of NBC, Ishaq Modibbo Kawu, is a card-carrying member and frontline leader in the APC, who was also an aspirant on the party’s platform in Kwara State gubernatorial race.

The opposition political party noted that there could be no democracy without a free press, adding: “To stifle the media is an invitation to fascism and return to the era of obnoxious military decrees 2 and 4, which should be resisted by all Nigerians.”

It also charged the media to remain professional and steadfast in its constitutional role of holding government and its institutions accountable and not be intimidated by oppressive forces that seek to subjugate Nigerians at all costs.