Television Authority (NTA), Nigeria's public television, this evening
on its prime 9 p.m. news avoided reporting Saturday's historic crisis
at the ongoing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Special Convention in
Abuja, thereby once again taking sides with President Goodluck
Jonathan and the ruling party and betrayingthe facts.
At the convention, the ruling party openly and embarrassingly split in
two, with several governors and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar
walking away andimmediately formalizing their own faction. There were
also fisticuffs among delegates from Anambra State, but the NTA,
preferring politics to professionalism, didnot report that, either.
As monitored by SaharaReporters in New York, NTA reported President
Jonathan's address and of Vice President Namadi Sambo. It also
carried two slide stories of Senate President David Mark and that of
Benue State governor, Mr. Gabriel Suswan, after which the station
continued with its live broadcast of the votes cast in Eagles Square,
venue of the convention.
NTA is under the supervision of Mr. Labaran Maku, Nigeria's Minister
of Information, as well as a board appointed by the president, which
protect the PDP's government interests in the company. The editorial
staff, according to a source, has been mandated to report only
pro-Jonathan stories and turn down any material offensive to him.
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