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NTA Removed From Largest UK Cable Platform, Sky

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The Nigerian Television Authority has been removed from the largest digital satellite television service platform in Europe, Sky Limited.

A visit to Sky’s website showed that NTA had been barred indefinitely from airing on Channel 794.

A message on Sky’s website read in part, “794: NTA International; currently temporarily removed from EPG (Electronic Programme Guide).”

A Sky customer service official told our reporter on the telephone in the UK that it had no control over NTA International whose rights are owned by Ben TV.

The news of the suspension of NTA International began to trend barely 24 hours after the National Broadcasting Commission, Nigeria’s broadcast regulator, suspended the licences of Africa Independent Television and Raypower 100.5FM.

However, sources within BEN TV told our correspondent that the NTA was pulled down two weeks ago.

Sky Limited is a British media and telecommunications conglomerate owned by Comcast and headquartered in London.

According to Wikipedia, it has operations in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Spain.

Sky is Europe’s largest media company and pay-TV broadcaster by revenue (as of 2018) with 23 million subscribers and more than 31,000 employees as of 2019. The company is primarily involved in satellite television and broadband services.

The NBC headed by Kawu Modibbo had on Thursday announced the suspension of AIT and Raypower FM both owned by opposition politician, Chief Raymond Dokpesi.

Although the NBC had cited several infractions as the reason for the suspension, human rights groups claim the suspension was an attempt to stifle press freedom.

The founder of BEN TV, Alistair Soyode, did not respond to telephone calls on Friday.

(Punch)

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UK Court Acquittal: Diezani Goes Spiritual, Says God Will Always Be God

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Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has reacted to her acquittal by a London court after bribery charges brought against her were dismissed.

The Southwark Crown Court in London, United Kingdom, on Wednesday acquitted the former minister of all charges, including five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.

Reacting to the judgment, Alison-Madueke expressed relief and said she and her family had endured years of emotional distress over the case.

Speaking to News Central, she said she has remained in the United Kingdom since the legal proceedings began 11 years ago.

She said: “I’m just thankful to God, it’s been arduous, almost 11 years. It’s been traumatic not just for me but for my family, friends, my 93-year-old mother in Port Harcourt and for my son.

“It has been a hard journey, but I tell you this, God will always do as He will. God will be God and God is not a man that He should lie; when He promises you something, He will see it through.

“For almost 11 years I have been here. I did my job to the best of my ability.”

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I Never Saw Report that Led to Natasha’s Suspension, Says Ireti Kingibe

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The lawmaker representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), at the Senate, Ireti Kingibe, says she did not see any report that led to the suspension of Kogi Central Senator, Natasha  Akpoti-Uduaghan.

Kingibe made this disclosure on Wednesday when she featured in an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’.

She said she was at a retreat with Edo North Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, when she heard about the report.

“I never saw the report that led to Natasha’s suspension. I was at a retreat. I had earlier stated that I was there with three or four other senators who are members of the committee.

“We attended the Committee on Petitions and Public Complaints, signed the attendance register, and I later left for the tax reform retreat, which I considered more important at the time.

“It affects my constituents much more than disciplining a senator, and I figured that the other people who were not part of that committee would take care of it.

“I even complained to other Senators, specifically to Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe. I complained to him very bitterly that I had not seen that report. I didn’t see it then. I have not seen it till now,” she said.

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UK Court Clears Ex-Petroleum Minister Alison-Madueke of All Corruption Charges

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Former Nigerian oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke was on Wednesday found not guilty ​by a London jury of six bribery charges, after ‌a rare corruption trial of a high-profile former energy official.
Alison-Madueke, minister for petroleum resources between 2010 and 2015 under then-president Goodluck Jonathan, stood trial ​charged with five counts of accepting bribes and a ​charge of conspiracy to commit bribery, which she denied.
Prosecutors ⁠alleged Alison-Madueke, 65, was given “a life of luxury” in London ​from oil and gas industry figures seeking lucrative contracts in Nigeria, ​which has long grappled with mismanagement and corruption.
But the former minister, who was also briefly president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, ​said she never took any bribes and had no real ​influence over the awarding of lucrative government contracts.
After a trial at London’s Southwark ‌Crown ⁠Court, Alison-Madueke was acquitted by a jury of all six charges she faced after more than 46 hours of deliberation.
The not guilty verdicts are a major blow to British authorities, which began their ​investigation into corruption ​allegations against Alison-Madueke ⁠more than a decade ago.
Alison-Madueke stood trial alongside oil industry executive Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, who was ​charged with one count of bribery relating to ​Alison-Madueke ⁠and a separate count of bribery of a foreign public official.
Alison-Madueke’s brother Doye Agama, 69, was charged with conspiracy to commit bribery ⁠with ​his sister relating to payments made to ​Agama’s church.
Both Ayinde and Agama denied the charges against them and were also ​acquitted by the jury.

Source: Reuters

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