Minister of Informatiion and Culture, Lai Mohammed has cleared air on reports that he directed the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to suspend the Big Brother Naija show.
This was disclosed in a statement made by his media aide, Segun Adeyemi and made available to AMILOADED on Sunday.
Describing the report as speculative, the minister said there was no memo to support the claim that he ordered the NBC to suspend the show on DSTV.
According to the statement, “The report was not credited to the minister. That statement is not credited to the minister. We will not dignify speculative reports; if a minister issues a directive, it will not be issued verbally.
“There’s going to be a memo to that effect that he will send; anybody that is sure that the minister made that statement should provide a memo.
“Like I said earlier, we will not dignify speculative report; if you tune your satellite TV to channel 198, I am sure Big Brother Naija is still airing, contrary to the speculative report that the minister has ordered NBC to suspend the show.”
Before this, there were reports that Mohammed called on the broadcasting agency to immediately end the show
According to The Cable, Mohammed’s directives was forwarded to the acting director-general of the NBC, Armstrong Idachaba, who on Wednesday, July 22, relayed the order to management members of the commission.
However, MultiChoice Ltd, the producers of the reality, had explained to the NBS that it has secured the approval of the Lagos state government having promised housemates and the organising crew will strictly obey all the safety protocols against COVID-19.
MultiChoice stated that it got the green light to go ahead with the show from Lagos State Safety Commission (LSSC).
Meanwhile, AMILOADED reported that the fifth season of the TV reality show was set to premiere on Sunday, July 19.
The announcement was recently made by the show’s organisers.
According to the organisers, the announcement follows the conclusion of the online auditions back in May which recorded over 30,000 entries from interested persons across Nigeria.
The BBNaija season 5 would be broadcast live and alongside the eviction shows and the weekly highlights.
The season’s prize money promises to be bigger including other surprises for viewers and fans of the show.
The organisers had noted that they would ensure that global best practices, precautions, and preventive measures would be followed throughout the show especially as regards the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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