The legal team of Planet FM yesterday appeared at the Revenue Court of Akwa Ibom state holden at Ikot Ekpene, where the lead council and defendant for Planet FM 101.1, Barrister Usungurua Bassey, noted that Planet FM is not liable under the charges of cap 36 and 37 of the Akwa Ibom Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency, Volume 3 of Akwa Ibom state Law, to pay environmental pollution and sanitation fees as the corporation is deemed culpable.

In his lead debate, Barrister Bassey argued that in the said sections 36 and 37, under schedule two, and categories A, B and C, Planet FM 101.1, being the defendant, operating as a media outfit in Akwa Ibom state, does not generate waste, and therefore does not fall within those liable schedules to pay for environmental waste pollution.

The prosecution being Akwa Ibom Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency led by Ndifreke Inyangette Esq., had instituted a case with charge number RET/67C/2022 on 14th February 2022 charging Planet FM, Aka Etinan Road, Uyo, of failing to pay the sum of 300,000.00 as sanitation and pollution fees between 2018 and 2020, which it says has overtime accumulated to a lumpsum of 360,000.00 naira.

Also recall that some fellows who paraded themselves as working for the Akwa Ibom Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency had, some months ago, stormed the Planet FM City Office, located at 2 TAF Plaza Close, Off Aka Etinan Road, Uyo, with heavily armed policemen, where they perpetrated heinous crimes of intimidation of Planet FM staff, and proceeded to effect an arrest of one of the station’s employee. They thereafter demanded that the said fines should be paid by the media outfit as environmental pollution and sanitation fees.

However, the defense team, at the plea session yesterday, maintained that Planet FM is not liable of the offense as charged, making reference to schedule two of the law. Barrister Bassey stressed that Planet FM is a media organisation, and not in any way generating waste products to warrant a fine for environmental pollution. The defense council later on took plea and made bail application for the defendant’s representative, which was granted based on self-recognition, after which the presiding magistrate F. J. Ekpa, adjourned the case to 14th July 2022 for trial.

Planet FM is however maintaining that it is a legally constituted organization, and would not be strong-armed into negotiating its rights as clearly stated in the laws of the land, or shall the firm succumb to any extortionary tactics deployed to damage its hard-earned reputation within the state’s media industry and beyond

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