Radio station suspends general manager who criticised Nigerian governor

The management of Legacy FM, a private radio station in Ebonyi State, has suspended Godfrey Chikwere as acting general manager.

Mr Chikwere’s suspension, PREMIUM TIMES gathered, followed his criticism of the state governor, Francis Nwifuru, both during radio broadcasts and on social media.

The suspended official previously worked at the state government-owned broadcast station, Ebonyi Broadcasting Corporation, before he was appointed the general manager of the private station in 2023.

Suspension

In an announcement on the radio station on Saturday, Legacy FM’s management accused Mr Chikwere of flouting the station’s code of conduct.

“The management of Legacy FM 95.1, The Sound of Now, hereby suspends the acting general manager, Godfrey Chikwere with immediate effect, till further notice.

“This is due to unruly behaviour and disobedience to the code of conduct guiding the Legacy FM,” the station management said in the announcement.

“With such effect, he is hereby directed to hand over all the company property in his position to the next senior officer.”

Mr Chikwere has been critical of Mr Nwifuru’s administration in recent times.

The journalist in a Facebook post on Friday urged Mr Nwifuru to take decisive action to protect his image and that of Ebonyi State.

He claimed that public perception of the governor’s administration was deteriorating, and criticised the administration for what he described as poor communication, underperformance by appointees, and unfulfilled pronouncements.

Mr Chikwere cautioned that the governor’s goodwill was dwindling and advised him to “step on toes” to achieve results.

He stressed that the current state of affairs pained true supporters.

In response, Governor Nwifuru’s spokesperson, Monday Uzor, condemned Mr Chikwere’s criticisms of the administration.

In a statement posted on Facebook on Friday, Mr Uzor described the criticisms as unfounded. He accused Mr Chikwere, although he avoided mentioning his name, of ungratefulness by using his platforms to attack the governor despite the radio station benefiting from government support.

“It is regrettable that despite the radio station thriving only on government support, the supposed helmsman dedicates a greater percentage of the station’s airtime to attack and run down the government whose support has kept his medium afloat.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the governor gifted the medium a brand new Changan SUV, donated a brand new transformer that powers the station, constructed the road leading to the broadcasting house,” he stated.

“But rather than give at least balanced coverage of government activities, it has been turned into a slaughter house of the governor’s genuine development efforts and goodwill, what a way to be ungrateful to good deeds!”

Mr Uzor urged the National Broadcasting Commission and the Nigeria Union of Journalists to intervene in the matter.

He also called on Nigerians to disregard the critic, whom he claimed was attempting to suppress the state’s rising profile.

The Commissioner for Information in Ebonyi State, Ikeuwa Omebeh, also condemned Mr Chikwere’s criticisms of Governor Nwifuru, describing them as “derogatory and inciting”.

In a statement on Saturday, Mr Omebeh accused the journalist of “overstepping his bounds”.

He said such remarks were unacceptable and an affront to the collective identity of the Ebonyi people.

While noting that the government welcomes constructive criticism, the commissioner warned against attempts to incite citizens against their leaders.

Outrage

Mr Chikwere’s suspension has attracted criticism.

A resident, Ikechukwu Elom, argued that radio and television stations should accommodate critical voices.

Mr Elom noted that if such suspensions were the norm, stations like Arise TV and Channels Television would have lost prominent journalists.

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He stressed that the media’s role is to hold the government accountable, provided such does not involve libel or slander.

“Any radio or television station or even a media person who wants to thrive must have the capacity to hold the government and politicians accountable because that’s the role of the media, so long as the media person or house is not committing libel or slander,” he said.