Badeggi FM and the High Cost of Governor Bago’s Overreach

Badeggi FM and the High Cost of Governor Bago’s Overreacho By Kabir Abdansalam, The drama over Badeggi FM in Minna, the Niger State capital, last weekend, was not just another bad day in governance — it was a full-blown self-inflicted crisis. Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago, at an expanded APC caucus meeting, penultimate Friday, ordered the closure of the private radio station after it aired an interview with the immediate-past chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammad Nami. During the programme, a few callers dared to suggest that Nami should consider running for the 2027 governorship. For the governor, that was political heresy. In a flash, he told the Commissioner of Police and the Commissioner for Homeland Security to seal the station, revoke its licence, and even “profile” the owner. It sounded decisive in the room. On paper, it looked like a show of power. In reality, it was a clumsy overreach that collapsed almost immediately. The order was never carried out. Why? A mix of legal reality, political caution, and public outrage. First, the law was never on his side. Only the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) can revoke a broadcast licence in Nigeria. The NBC didn’t buy his argument, didn’t back his directive, and certainly didn’t find Badeggi FM guilty of any breach. Second, the blowback came fast. Civil society groups — from Amnesty International to the Nigerian Guild of Editors — called it what it was: an assault on press freedom. The Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, who sat in that same meeting, publicly stated that the governor’s order had no legal basis. Third, the politics didn’t add up. Carrying out the order risked turning a local radio station into a national cause célèbre, painting the government as paranoid and allergic to dissent. So, instead of police tape on Badeggi FM’s gates, we got something else: a governor’s directive hanging awkwardly in the air, unenforced and increasingly embarrassing. The Pattern Is Familiar

This isn’t happening in a vacuum. Niger State journalists know the script: detentions, intimidation, and now, threats of closure. From the arrest of Yakubu Mustapha of Peoples Daily to the alleged assault of VOA’s Mustapha Batsari by a commissioner, the playbook has been consistent — punish the messenger. And while bandits terrorise Niger’s rural communities and insecurity bleeds into daily life of Nigerlites, the state government’s energies are spent picking fights with broadcasters. A Failure of Counsel A competent media adviser would have advised the governor to file a formal complaint with NBC if the broadcast was truly “inciteful,” then quietly engage the station’s management. A public reaffirmation of commitment to press freedom — with a gentle reminder about broadcast ethics — would have taken the air out of any controversy. Instead, the governor’s media team went nuclear. And now, the story is not about Nami or 2027 politics — it’s about a state government’s appetite for censorship. The Law and the Optics Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution guarantees freedom of expression. Section 22 tasks the press with holding the government accountable. Ordering a station’s closure because you don’t like what was said isn’t just unconstitutional — it’s politically clumsy. Even the Nigeria Bar Association’s Niger State chapter has warned that such directives undermine democracy. The International Press Institute (IPI) gave the governor 48 hours to withdraw the order or risk being listed in its Book of Infamy. What Happens Next The simplest way out is also the hardest for a politician: admit it was wrong, rescind the order, and move on. Pretending it never happened won’t work — it’s already in the public record. Public office is not for the thin-skinned. The press will criticise. Callers will speculate. And in a democracy, leaders must learn to live with both. Governor Bago now has a choice: double down on a bad call, or take the hint from the people, the law, and even his own allies — and step back from the brink. Because in the end, Badeggi FM never went off-air. But his government’s reputation? That’s another story.

Kabir is with Spokeperson’s Digest and be reach via [email protected]