The Buhari presidency’s animus against AIT has a four-year history. On April 26, 2015, a reporter and a cameraman of the TV station were estopped from covering the affairs of then President-elect Buhari at the Defence House. And since then, it has been a test of wills. The fount of this hostility is the government’s perception of the broadcaster as an opposition medium.

I have perused the long and winding statement of the NBC, explaining the reasons for its “regulatory blitz” on AIT. It is clear the government wants tamed and docile media that will panegyrise it.

The NBC said the broadcaster is “patently partisan.” I liken this to a Gestapo utterance, but what can be said of NTA, the broadcast appendage of the APC and the government? Really, it is not expected of an independent TV station in a democracy to be the dog of the government; it is not expected that it should be partisan either.

And talking about partisanship, the NBC DG, Modibbo Kawu is a known member of the APC; in fact, he vied in the party’s governorship primary election in Kwara state in October, 2018. Naturally, Kawu’s grail will be to protect the interest of his party rather than that of citizens. This is the hypocrisy that has so demarked this administration, and the fallout of appointing people to positions in government on the basis of patronage and loyalty.

https://thebelltimesng.com/2019/06/07/buharis-hammer-on-ait-by-fredrick-nwabufo/