Tag Archives: Gimba Umar

Court arraigns Channels TV presenters

A number of Nigerian TV presenters are to be indicted as part of the ongoing trial of Olisa Metuh, former national publicity secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Three presenters of the Sunrise Daily show on Channels TV are set to be arraigned for allegedly making prejudicial statements concerning Metuh’s court case for alleged fraud.

Chamberlain Usoh, Nnetaobase Egne and Gimba Umar anchored the programme, in which they interviewed the lawyers from both sides of the case. These included Johnson Ojogbane of the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission (EFFC), representing the prosecution; and Benchuks Nwosu, representing the defence.

However, according to the judge of the trial, Justice Okon Abang, this was an offensive act, as the channel and TV show allegedly took it upon itself to act as a court of law.

Justice Abang ordered that the presenters and their guest on the programme, Nwosu, be docked. Meanwhile, the court will determine whether the conversation held on the programme that day was prejudicial or not, as well as to make the media outfit explain why it engaged in a matter pending before the court.

However, the court did not arraign Ojogbane, who featured on the show via telephone.

The ongoing trial involves the case of Metuh who was accused of N400m (US$1.1m) fraud by the EFFC. He is standing trial on seven counts of money-laundering alongside his company, Destra Investment Limited.

The charges relate to money from the office of the former National Security Adviser in 2014 to campaign for former President Goodluck Jonathan.

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TV presenters escape prosecution

The court order imposed on three Channels TV presenters by Justice Okon Abang of the Nigerian Federal High Court in Abuja in July has been suspended.

The trio involved are Chamberlain Usoh, Gimba Umar and Nneotaobase Egbe. Under the ruling, they were to be prosecuted over the broadcasting of allegedly prejudicial material in respect of the trial of Chief Olisa Metuh, the former publicity secretary of the People’s Democratic Party.

The three presenters of the Sunrise Daily show on Channels TV were set to be arraigned for allegedly making prejudicial statements concerning Metuh’s court case for alleged fraud.

Usoh, Egne and Umar anchored the programme, in which they interviewed the lawyers from both sides of the case. These included Johnson Ojogbane of the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission, representing the prosecution, and Benchuks Nwosu, representing the defence.

During the trial, relating to allegations of money-laundering, the three presenters conducted themselves in a manner that Justice Okon Abang ruled was contemptuous and prejudicial to the court.

This led to an outburst by the judge, who said: “So Channels Television has become a court of law.”

As a result of this, they were to be arraigned before any court that had the same jurisdiction as the Federal High Court.

Justice Abang has now temporarily suspended the prosecution order while waiting for the outcome of an appeal that Channels TV has since filed against his July ruling.

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Channels TV wins top NMMA gong

Nigerian broadcaster Channels TV has been named TV station of the year at the Nigeria Media Merit Awards (NMMA), marking the 12th time the network has received the honour, reports Gabriella Opara.

Channels TV won the top NMMA for the 12th time

Channels TV assistant general manager Kingsley Uranta accepted the award on behalf of Channels Media Group, after the TV station was announced as the winner by the emcee of the event, Gbenga Adeyinka.

Also bagging an award at the  ceremony was Channels TV presenter Gimba Umar, who was named television newscaster of the year.

Channels TV, which received its first NMMA in 2000, has a viewing audience of more than 20 million, locally and internationally.

The NMMAs are held annually to celebrate and recognise media excellence in the country. This year’s event was attended by dignitaries and top media personalities including Nigeria’s minister of information & culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and the chairman of the Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria, John Momoh.

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