Buhari Govt Has Shuts Down AIT, Ray Power FM - Timi Frank

The All Progressive Congress's former Deputy National Secretary, Timi Frank has claimed that the recent incident that has occured  between the National Broadcasting commission ( NBC ) and African Independent Television ( AIT ), it's a scheme by the APC Buhari led government to put an end to the media house.

The Ex APC Chieftain while making a statement in Abuja stated that “This represents an unfortunate and lamentable oppression of the media and direct suppression of Press Freedom in the country by the General Muhammadu Buhari regime which must not be allowed to stand,” he declared.

He stated that having performed “woefully” in office in the last four years, the Buhari regime has increasingly turned predatory, exploitative, vindictive and rapacious against its citizens out of frustration.

“The ongoing pacification, intimidation and emasculation of the Nigerian Media to confer totalitarian powers on the General Muhammadu Buhari’s regime and enable it to ride roughshod over Nigerians without censure or criticism,” he lamented.

He further stressed that “This unfortunate action, I dare say, marks the beginning of the #NextLevel policy of intimidation and persecution of the Nigerian media by the General Buhari’s regime.

“Make no mistakes, this closure is meant to serve as a lesson to other media houses and forcefully stop them from exposing Buhari’s ineptness and cluelessness in governance to members of the public,”

“In January this year, armed soldiers invaded and occupied the offices of Media Trust Limited – Publishers of the Daily Trust Newspapers – in Maiduguri and Abuja, seized their laptops, computers, arrested and detained its top reporters and editors.

“We must not also forget the illegal detention of a Premium Times journalist, Samuel Ogundipe, for three days for publishing a story from a report on the invasion of the Senate authored by the immediate past IGP, Ibrahim Idris, to the President.”

“Where in the world would can you ask private broadcast outfits – without public power supply – to renew their licenses with N500million annually and yet expect them to meet their running cost, pay salaries and keep afloat in an already comatose economy?”

He stated that the action of the NBC’s boss, Mallam Is’haq Modibbo Kawu, is not only targeted at killing AIT and RayPower but to run the founder and Chairman Emeritus of DAAR Communications Plc, Chief Raymond Dokpesi – a chieftain of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – aground economically.