Soyinka criticizes NBC for endorsing Channels TV during the Datti interview

Soyinka claimed he didn't understand how the television network could be blamed for Datti's comments. Prof. Wole Soyinka, a highly regarded Nobel laureate, has denounced the National Broadcasting Commission's (NBC) decision to fine Channels Television $5 million over remarks made by Labour Party vice-presidential candidate Datti Baba-Ahmed during one of its programs. Datti quietly warned that if Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is inaugurated as president on May 29 that Nigeria's democracy would collapse during an interview on the program "Politics Today" on March 22, 2023. Following Datti's comments, the NBC levied a $5 million fine against Channels Television for what it called a volatile broadcast that may have caused a riot. But Soyinka called for the penalty's abolition in a statement released on Friday, April 7, 2023, contending that keeping it in place would only serve to exalt those who, in his view, have turned the Internet into a cesspool for disposing of their filth. The renowned dramatist stated: "May I use this occasion, by the way, to denounce the sanctions imposed on CHANNELS Television which anchored the performance of the LP candidate." “As stated, I watched the programme keenly – saw the valiant efforts of the interviewer to ensure a fair hearing. I fail to understand just where the station could be faulted, except from a disposition for injustice.”