At BON General Meeting, it was a season of great expectations, by Okoh Aihe,
It doesn’t come as a surprise any more that the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, BON, meeting which took place last week in Abuja became a political theatre of suggestions. The organisation had itself to blame for the torrents of suggestions that came its way. BON was responsible for the rain that drenched it, having been very upfront in choosing a political theme for the 23rd Annual General Meeting of the broadcast gathering. But perhaps such frontloading was also needed at this time to provoke a robust discourse.
The next major elections come up early next year and political orchestrations and desperation clearly indicate that the nation is heading into a period when politicians reason that the bigger the baskets of lies and deceit they carry on their heads, the more gullible the people become. Already political abracadabra and manipulated alignments have been let loose, putting in jeopardy or in jest, what people are projecting to be a sure political outcome.
The theme of the 81st General Assembly and the 23rd Annual General Meeting of BON was, ‘The Management of the Airwaves: An Assessment of the 2026 Nigerian Electoral Act on Broadcast Media Coverage of the Elections’.
The topic was addressed by the INEC chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, who seized the opportunity to deliver a treatise to the gathering. BON was also going to do an election that would bring in the next line of executives, giving people the slightly ironic impression that INEC would be conducting the internal election for the gathering of broadcast operators.
However, BON suddenly found out at the meeting that expectations from members by strategic stakeholders in the days and months leading up to the elections, are mountain high. Like the Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, almost everybody who spoke wore a BON cloak of indispensability and relevance which it must try to justify in the process of building an acceptable democracy for the nation.
While elections can now be won or lost in the information space, in the observation of Amupitan, your airwaves have become the primary infrastructure of democracy. If they are clear, the nation sees the truth; if they are clouded by misinformation, the sovereign will of the people is threatened.
Amupitan told the gathering that the role of broadcast media in the electoral process has become increasingly central to democratic governance, particularly in developing democracies where access to information is uneven and often mediated through radio and television. In Nigeria, broadcast media remain the most influential platforms for political communication, shaping public opinion, framing electoral narratives, and influencing voter behaviour. As such, the management of the airwaves during election periods goes beyond regulation to a fundamental issue of democratic integrity and legitimacy, he submitted.
Reclining on history to access the role of BON, Mohammed Idris,who is the Minister of Information and National Orientation, attested that over the decades, BON has served as a unifying platform for broadcasters, fostering collaboration, setting standards, and strengthening the media’s role as a critical pillar of our democracy.
Mohammed alerted that as the national election cycle is upon us, during which intense campaigns for votes and the hearts and minds of Nigerians will be vehement, and therefore, misinformation, disinformation, and fake news may become prevalent; it is imperative that our broadcasting institutions continue to uphold the highest standards of professionalism, fairness and accuracy.
“The credibility of our democratic processes depends, in no small measure, on the integrity of the media coverage. As we all know, the media plays a central role in shaping public perception and influencing the tone of national discourse,’’ the Minister said.
While lauding the theme of the conference which, he said ‘’sits at the very intersection of democracy, regulation, and national stability,’’ Charles Ebuebu, NBC DG, warned that as another election cycle approaches, ‘’how we – regulators and broadcasters alike – navigate the provisions of the new Electoral Act will either fortify or fracture public trust.’’
Ebuebu made a declaration that the ‘’NBC is not here to stifle the industry. We are here to enable a pluralistic, professional, and profitable broadcasting sector. However, the 2026 Electoral Act imposes specific obligations on broadcasters – particularly regarding access, fairness, hate speech, and misinformation.’’
He therefore informed that the broadcast regulator would be rolling out a revised Broadcasting Code Appendix on Election Coverage within 30 days and sought the full collaboration of BON in its interpretation and enforcement.
However, Amupitan’s surgical journey into the Electoral Act 2006 was totally expected from the head of the nation’s electoral body who, as a lawyer and an academic, took the gathering through a circumlocutionary journey which, at some point, strained understanding of his pedantic postulations.
Here is my unsolicited advice. As the nation heads towards a defining election, his views will be sought from far and wide. There will be the need for brevity, clarity and simplicity of every messaging from his organisation in order not to leave people more confused. There is already too much hunger in the stomach to accommodate grammatical circumlocution.
Amupitan was sincere in x-raying the Act which forms the basis of his appointment and the operations of INEC. Much as the law has been put in place, the controversy that greeted the Act is still simmering. He looked at some very beautiful ideas in the Act which are, at best, lofty and more of castles in the air.
For instance, speaking about fairness which Ebuebu also referenced in his Goodwill Message, Amupitan explained that, ‘’Electoral fairness, in this regard, is closely tied to the principle of equal opportunity in political competition. It requires that all political parties and candidates have reasonable access to the media to present their programmes to the electorate. The denial or unequal distribution of broadcast access can distort voter perception and undermine the credibility of elections.”
Amupitan spoke copiously on Section 99, Sub-Sections (2) – (5) which is about the non-partisanship obligation on the State, by prohibiting the use of state apparatus, including publicly owned media, to favour or disadvantage any political actor, as it seeks to prevent incumbency advantage.
He was sincere enough to admit that some of those Sections have never been complied with and did not say how implementation can happen except to state at some point that the shared regulatory responsibility between INEC and NBC also renders enforcement impossible,
He also harped on the Section which says that “Abusive, intemperate, slanderous or base language, insinuations or innuendoes designed or likely to provoke violent reaction or emotion shall not be employed or used in political campaigns.”
There is nothing in the foregoing that has not happened in Nigeria. Some states don’t even allow opposition parties to have a foothold, let alone visiting a state funded broadcast station. Adverts are routinely rejected even if the stations are in dire need of funds, which they always do as they are underfunded.
Those who used violent language in the last election are holding big positions in this government as previous INEC leadership pretended to be deaf and dumb and deliberately refused to act on the outrage expressed by the people.
In the panoply of beautiful presentations, Amupitan did not state what INEC was going to do differently in order to retrieve or win back the credibility it lost in the past, which unfortunately, has been further impacted by some recent actions. He did not also say what to do about vote differentials from the Polling Station to the Collation Centres or what to do when a winner is overwhelmed by the overbearing might of another politician who has enough slush funds to flip the election and buy justice. The electorate needs sincerity and better assurances beyond the propensity of unrewarding erudition. INEC missed the opportunity to make some declarations.
NBC also missed the opportunity. The broadcast regulator will have its table full as politics heats up. What will they do to public stations funded by states and even the federal that forbid opposition appearances, presentations or even adverts. Will it be in position to take a strong decision when there is no indication yet that it has shut down Majority FM which has been established and domiciled in a political facility to rev up political activities in Rivers State?
However, a broadcast miracle seems to be expected from BON and its membership. I expect the broadcasters to steel themselves, apply their professionalism and deliver beyond the expectations of politicians whose presence on the scene are as fleeting as a mirage.
It is fitting to observe that Tony Anegbe Akiotu who roundly won the election, has outlined priority areas which include: strengthening industry sustainability, supporting constructive digital transition, enhancing skills, encouraging content collaboration, and positioning BON as a thought leader with focus, pragmatism and measurable results. He has also pledged to work with the various stakeholders, including the government, to create a better professional body that can meet sundry expectations of government and help preserve the health and sanctity of the nation’s evolving democracy while displaying professional excellence.
It is my expectation, most ironically, that INEC was present at the election, which was so transparent that both the winner and loser left satisfied. Nigerians expect an elevated performance from INEC.
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It doesn’t come as a surprise any more that the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, BON, meeting which took place last week in Abuja became a political theatre of suggestions. The organisation had itself to blame for the torrents of suggestions that came its way. BON was responsible for the rain that drenched it, having been very […]
The post At BON General Meeting, it was a season of great expectations, by Okoh Aihe appeared first on Vanguard News.
, , Emmanuel Okogba, {authorlink},, , Vanguard News, April 14, 2026, 11:14 pm
