President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Balarabe Shehu Ilelah, a broadcaster, as the substantive director-general (DG) of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, announced Ilelah’s appointment in a statement on Friday.
The appointment comes 15 months after Modibbo Kawu was suspended as the DG of the commission in February 2020.
Armstrong Idachaba had held sway as acting DG of the commission since Kawu’s suspension.
He worked with the information minister to amend the country’s broadcasting code which some stakeholders objected to.
His stint as NBC acting DG was characterised by controversies.
The NBC under him recently asked all social media platforms and online broadcast platforms to register with the commission.
The commission also asked broadcast stations to deactivate their Twitter accounts following a suspension of the microblogging site by the federal government.
Mohammed said the new DG has a tenure of five years.