The decision of the NMC Complaints Settlement Committee was based on the admission by the radio station that it erred in the allegations.

The media house also said it hadnothing to substantiate any of the allegations and was therefore willing to retract the publication and apologise to the Foundation and the First Lady.

The NMC accordingly ruled against Accra FM and directed the parties to agree on the terms of apology to be rendered by the radio station in line with the appropriate provisions in the NMC Complaint Settlement procedures.

The subject of discussion was centered on purported acquisition of state lands around Adentan and Cantonments near the AU Village known as Aviation lands in lieu of salary to be paid to the Executive Director of the Foundation, Rebecca Akufo- Addo.

The panelist accused the First Lady of corruption, and for destroying the Ghana Manganese Company by taking millions of dollars from it for use by the Foundation.

The programme also described the First Lady as the mastermind behind all alleged corrupt deals emanating from the Jubilee House.

The Foundation denied all the allegations and stated that the broadcast was malicious and full of lies to cause public disaffection for the Foundation and the First Lady.

The Foundation appealed to the NMC to call Accra FM to order and have the false publication pulled down from their social media pages.

The Foundation further asked the FM station to retract and apologise through the same medium where the offending article was published.

In their reaction to the Commission, Accra FM admitted that they could not validate their claims and expressed their preparedness to comply with the demands of the Foundation and the decision of the Commission.

The Commission in its ruling said by admitting that they broadcast the material without prior verification, Accra FM failed to live up to the ethical standards required of a broadcaster.

The Commission, however, commended the station for accepting to apologise and retract the publication but noted that their admission of error did not take away the professional requirement for verification and fact-checking before publication.

The Commission has meanwhile advised all media houses and journalists to exercise the greatest professional care and diligence in handling materials that have the capacity to affect the public judgment of all citizens.

Kwabena Bobbie Ansah of Accra FM was picked up by persons purported to be National Security operatives on Thursday night.

Until Friday morning, it was unclear what occasioned the development which ensued around the radio station’s premises after his political talk show ended at about 10:00 pm.

But the Ghana Police Service has clarified in a statement that his arrest was “in connection with an alleged case of publication of false news and offensive conduct.”

“The Accra Regional Police Command will issue a full statement on the matter in due course,” the Service added.

Kwabena Bobie Ansah’s arrest brings to three the number of journalists arrested by security officials this year.

The Citizen Show host’s bail is with two sureties.

He has been charged with the publication of false news and offensive conduct after he was picked up by the Police on Thursday night.

The Court which heard the case was heard on Friday has adjourned the case to March 14, 2022.

Presenting the facts of the case, the police said Mr Bobie Ansah on January 1, this year, accused the presidential spouses of granting themselves “state lands at AU Village, around the Kotoka International Airport for the construction of Rebecca Foundation”.

The police said the presenter further called the First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo “a thief and that she has stolen state land around the Kotoka International Airport,” a statement he knew was “likely to occasion the breach of the peace”.

According to the Police, Kwabena Bobbie Ansah’s arrest “became necessary after he turned down several invitations from the Police to him and others involved in the case to assist with investigations.”

The interview, which started smoothly, quickly took an unexpected turn with Wendy Shay’s voice going up against the host, Nana Romeo.

The host pressured her to confess she is in an intimate relationship with Bullet, but she made it clear that they are not dating.

However, Nana Romeo, after the issue had cooled down, insisted her new song, ‘Emergency’ is dedicated to Bullet. This angered her to say:

RELATED

• Video: Is Wendy Shay dating Bullet – Find answer here

• Bullet is my dad, he can’t ‘sleep’ with me – Wendy Shay

“I came here for interview to promote my brand. I don’t think I came here for Bullet questions. What is this interview about? Am I here for counselling or investigations on Bullet because I don’t know why you keep asking me the same questions . If this is the line of questions for the interview I think I need to walk out.”

“I have suffered enough,” were the last words she said before angrily exiting the studios of Accra-Fm.

Barely a month ago, Nana Romeo was in the news for walking artiste KiDi out of his studio for showing up 20 minutes late for an interview.