Minister of Information Lai Mohammed has backtracked on his earlier statement where he announced the increment of hate speech fine from N500,000 to N5million.
The Minister to the shock of Nigerians made a blatant denial of announcing the increment under a sworn oath despite video evidence.
This is coming after Human Rights Lawyer Inibehe Effiong filed a lawsuit to challenge N5million fine imposed on Nigeria Info FM by National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) for making hate speech on air.
Responding in a counter-affidavit, Lai Mohammed denied the allegations.
The affidavit read, “Paragraph 19 is denied. The 2nd defendant (Mohammed) did not announce an increment in any fine for hate speech from N500,000 to N5,000,000 or any other because there is a governmental body or institution mandated to regulate and enforce the Nigerian Broadcasting Code.”
According to the Minister, NBC had the power to sanction organisations that do not comply with the National Broadcasting code and against national interest.