Details have emerged on why President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Tuesday, reversed the leadership changes he had earlier approved at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).
The President had announced the appointment of Rotimi Pedro as Director-General of the state broadcaster, replacing Salihu Dembos, alongside three other senior executives in the organisation and its subsidiaries.
However, a week later, Mr. Tinubu cancelled the appointments and reinstated Dembos and the previously displaced executives.
According to presidency sources, the reversal followed complaints from the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who supervises the NTA but was reportedly unaware of the changes until he saw them in media reports.
The development was said to have embarrassed the minister, particularly as Dembos and other NTA management officials were, at the time, accompanying him on a federal government citizens’ engagement tour of Enugu and Ebonyi States.
Investigations revealed that a presidential aide with a background in broadcasting had directly influenced the initial appointments, telling the president that the NTA leadership was underperforming, losing audience share, and failing to project government activities. This narrative, however, was later challenged by the minister.
Upon his return from the Southeast tour, Idris reportedly sought an audience with President Tinubu to present his findings.
“The minister also requested the permission of President Tinubu to investigate the situation at the NTA, especially the allegations upon which the leadership changes were made,” Premium Times quoted a top presidential insider.
According to a senior insider, the minister’s report concluded that the allegations against the NTA management were “spurious” and orchestrated by vested interests seeking to capture the agency.
Following this briefing, President Tinubu ordered the immediate reversal of the changes, reinstating Dembos as Director-General and recalling other executives who had been replaced.
