Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago has ordered the immediate closure of Badeggi FM Radio in Minna, accusing the station of inciting residents against his administration and promoting violence.
The shutdown directive was announced during an expanded Niger State All Progressives Congress (APC) Caucus meeting at the Government House, according to a statement released by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Bologi Ibrahim.
Governor Bago has instructed the State Commissioner of Police and Commissioner for Homeland Security, Brigadier General Bello Abdullahi Mohammed (RTD), to seal the media outlet and confiscate its broadcasting license. The governor also ordered that the station’s owner be profiled by security operatives.
“Governor Bago also accused the owner of the Station for incitement of the people against government and directed that the license of the Radio station be revoked,” Ibrahim stated in the official release. “The governor directed the Commissioner for Homeland Security and the Commissioner of Police to seal the radio station, and emphasised the need for the security operatives to profile the owner of the radio station as his station promotes violence.”
However, the radio station has strongly contested the governor’s allegations and criticized his approach to addressing the complaints. Abubakar Shuaib, Director of Operations at Badeggi FM, called on Governor Bago to follow proper regulatory channels rather than deploying security forces to harass the station’s management and staff.
Shuaib argued that the appropriate course of action would be for the governor to file a formal complaint with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), which serves as the industry’s regulatory body. He emphasized that the NBC monitors their programming daily and maintains schedules of all their broadcasts.
“The right thing to do is to write to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) for investigation. NBC has schedule of our programmes and we are being monitored everyday. So, the governor should write to NBC and let the regulatory agency verify our contents and programme to establish if they contravened any of the NBC codes or ethical provisions,” Shuaib explained.
The radio station’s management maintains that their operations are conducted within legal boundaries and that their role is to ensure government accountability. “We cannot do anything to undermine the public peace and security of the state. Our duty is to hold leaders accountable and that is what we are doing. We don’t have anything against any individual or state government,” Shuaib concluded.
