The government of Zamfara State didn’t shut down media houses but only sealed them, the Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the North Central state, Yusuf Idris, has said.
The government had in an announcement on Zamfara Radio by the information commissioner in the state, Ibrahim Dosara, ordered the immediate closure of some media outlets.
The media outlet affected are of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Gusau, Federal Radio Corporation Pride FM Gusau, Al’umma TV, Gamji FM and Gamji TV.
Justifying the move in an interview on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily, Yusuf said the affected media houses collaborated with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to break the law.
He said, “The information reaching you out there is incorrect. What I read from the government is that it sealed the media (houses) not shutdown. The government doesn’t have the right to shut down, it only sealed; no going in, no going out. Shutting down means they are not going to operate and cancelling their licenses; this is the responsibility of NBC.”
Responding on violence which erupted during the flag-off of PDP campaigns, Yusuf said only the party didn’t abide by suspension of political rallies in the state.
“All the people shot were APC members by PDP thugs, I believe they are bandits because some of them were wearing camouflage,” he added.
In his response, PDP Vice Chairman in Zamfara, Mouktar Lugga, said they were not aware of any suspension of campaigns in in the state.
He said, “We are not aware of any accord we entered that we should suspend campaign. I don’t know what accord government is trying to say. What I know is that APC and government try to stop our constitutional rights to lunch our campaign and associate freely as enshrined in constitution.
“The time for campaign was spelled out by INEC and we didn’t campaign before now. There was time the governor issued such order and we respected it. If you go round Gusau (Zamfara State capital), PDP don’t have single billboard because government won’t allow us to put one.”