BBNaija: Lai Mohammed Defends Self Over Allegation

The Nigeria Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has denied ordering the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to suspend the transmission of popular reality TV show, Big Brother Naija.

Recall that there were alleged reports of the Minister ordering the shut down of the program on TheCable on July 24,2020.

The report by the newspaper claimed that the minister gave the order to Acting Director-General of the NBC, Armstrong Idachaba, over fears of a possible spread of COVID-19 among the housemates.

However, Mr Mohammed, in a statement by his media aide, Segun Adeyemi, slammed the report by describing it as a “lie”.

“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 of it.

“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,” the statement read.

The Big Brother Naija reality show entered its fifth season on Sunday, July 19 with 20 housemates complaining about an N85million grand prize.

The grand prize, which includes N30m cash prize, two-bedroom apartment, an SUV, a trip to Dublin, home appliances, a trip to Dubai, a year’s supply of noodles and a trip to watch the UEFA Champions League final, among others, makes this season’s winning the biggest since the show was launched in 2006.