In the petition dated 30th March 2023 and signed by the All Progressives Congress presidential campaign council Director of Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, the president-elect demanded action from NBC on what he considers breaches by Channels TV on its program 'Politics Today' which airs daily at 7 pm on weekdays. Tinubu accused Baba-Ahmed of making several comments attacking the integrity of the 25th February 2023 Presidential elections. He faulted Tinubu's emergence as President-elect and categorically asked President Buhari and the Chief Justice of Nigeria not to swear him in.
In the petition, Tinubu said that the show host should have cautioned the Labour Party candidate for making such unguarded comments, and for failing to do so, the station should be sanctioned. According to Section 14.0.1 of the Nigerian Broadcasting Code 6th edition, the National Broadcasting Commission is duty-bound to accept complaints from aggrieved persons, bodies or members of the public and investigate as well as apply sanctions where necessary.
The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council cited Section 3.8.1(b) of the Nigerian Broadcasting Code, which states that "A broadcaster shall ensure that no program contains anything that amounts to subversion of constituted authority or compromises the unity or corporate existence of Nigeria as a sovereign state," in its petition.
The petition reads, "He (Datti) said the Labour Party won the elections. This is a fallacy and not correct. According to the code, a broadcaster is liable when his guest can make a wild statement that is inaccurate and not based on fact. The only factual figures empirically collated as the final result is the one released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, which placed Labour Party as third."
Tinubu further pointed out that Datti Baba-Ahmed's comments about Labour Party winning the presidential vote undermine the constituted authority given to INEC in the 1999 constitution as the body vested with the powers to conduct and announce the results of national general elections in Nigeria. The petition also stated that any other figures would have to be certified by the tribunal as authentic ones.
"Mr Datti's comments that the INEC certificate of return issued to the President-elect is a "dud cheque" and is null and void is not only divisive, subversive but inciting and inflammatory," the petition read.
The petition argued that the statement by Mr Datti Baba-Ahmed that if "President Buhari should hand over to the President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu by May 29, that would be the end of democracy" is another case of unguarded utterance, which is in breach of Section 5.3.3(b) of the Nigerian Broadcasting Code.
According to the code, a broadcaster shall avoid inflammatory and divisive matters in its provocative form in using political material. Furthermore, Section 3.0.2.1 of the code states that "No broadcaster shall encourage or incite to crime, lead to public disorder or hate, or repugnant to public feelings" materials that cause disaffection.
By denying the authenticity of the INEC presidential election results, Mr Datti is at liberty to seek the voiding of the results, but until the court or tribunal overturns those results, they remain the authentic results. Channels TV cannot encourage him to use its platform to create anarchy by disputing results on air without corroborating his facts.