Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, says the federal
government is hiding the fact that Nigeria “has been captured” by the World
Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
He said the “neoliberal economic policies” of the Bretton
Woods Institutions are fostering poverty in the country.
Falana spoke in Lagos on Thursday at the launch of a report
by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP). The report is
titled “Something to Hide?: Media Freedom Under Siege in Nigeria”.
He also said the federal government is determined to silence the media so as to hide information about corruption and insecurity from the citizens.
“Why is the government desperate to silence us? It is to
hide from Nigeria information about misgovernance, information about
corruption, wanton corruption, information regarding the reckless killings of
our people, unwarranted abductions of our people including schoolchildren,
undergraduates, secondary school students and even primary school pupils,” he
said.
“Government is also determined to hide from us the fact that
our country has been captured by the IMF and the World Bank whose neoliberal economic policies have
continued to promote poverty in our country.”
Falana also condemned the N5 million fine imposed on
Channels Television for interviewing the spokesperson of the proscribed
Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on ‘Politics Today’.
The senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said the National
Broadcasting Commission (NBC) did not allow for fair hearing, as stipulated in
the broadcasting act, before imposing the fine on the TV station and suspending
the programme.
“The NBC became the judge,
the witness and sole prosecutor in its own court, tried the channel in
absentia, convicted the media organisation” he said.
“This is very alien, the conduct of NBC can not be justified
under the provision of the Nigerian constitution and African charter.”
Falana added that the fine imposed on Channels Television by
the NBC is illegal, adding that the money should be refunded.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com