The Senate President, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki made a startling revelation during his surprise tour of the National Assembly Complex last week.
He discovered that the National Assembly has a full fledged TV Broadcasting facility worth over N500million that has been laying waste.
In his interaction with officials of the Communications Unit, Senator Saraki was told that the facility was not used because the National Assembly could not get a broadcast licence from the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
Saraki wanted to know what attempts had been made to get the licence, he was informed that the NBC sees the National as a political organisation, which like religious organisations are barred from free-to-air TV licences.
Saraki said they have to sort out the issue urgently because the National Assembly was a public institution whose activities should be broadcast to Nigerians as at when due.
The officials stated that the NBC has aaked the Unit to work out an arrangement with Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) in terms of recording and editing activities of the assembly.He was told they were in the process of signing an MOU.
Asked if that was the purpose of the TV studio, Saraki was told that the idea was to cover and broadcast activities from the Assembly, adding that if it was operational, no other broadcast media will be allowed to independently record proceedings as they will be providing feeds and also materials to these organisations.
Saraki who took the tour to familiarise himself with facilities and staff gave a firm order that all efforts must be put in motion to ensure that the TV studio, which the Head of Department said cost over N500 million, should be effectively put to the original reason for which it was established.