The Nigeria Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has denied ordering the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to suspend the transmission of popular reality TV show, BigBrother Naija.

Recall that there were alleged reports of the Minister ordering the shut down of the program on July 24, 2020.

The report by the newspaper claimed that the minister gave the order to Acting Director-General of the NBC, Armstrong Idachaba, over fears of a possible spread of COVID-19 among the housemates.

However, Mr Mohammed, in a statement by his media aide, Segun Adeyemi, slammed the report by describing it as a “lie”.

“The report was not credited to the minister. That statement is not credited to the minister. We will not dignify speculative reports; if a minister issues a directive, it will not be issued verbally.

“There’s going to be a memo to that effect that he will send; anybody that is sure that the minister made that statement should provide a memo of it.

“Like I said earlier, we will not dignify speculative report; if you tune your satellite TV to channel 198, I am sure Big Brother Naija is still airing, contrary to the speculative report that the minister has ordered NBC to suspend the show,” the statement read.