A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Segun Sowunmi, has said that TV host Rufai Oseni has crossed too many lines.

This was after a latest heated exchange between Oseni and the Minister of Works, David Umahi, on live television on Monday.

During the TV programme, Oseni questioned why Umahi reported him to President Bola Tinubu.

In response, Umahi said, "You are too small for me to report you to the President. Who are you for me to report you?"

Oseni then pointed out how Umahi, during a televised event, drew the attention of the President to some questions he (Oseni) asked him.

While speaking, Umahi interrupted Oseni, pointing out that the TV host did not know his profession. "Because you don't know what you are speaking," said the minister, when Oseni complained about his interruption.

Oseni then asked the minister to give details of the cost per kilometre of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.

Interrupting, Umahi said, "I won't keep quiet for you to damage information. I was in your studio when the first section was on, and I ran the figures.

"What you are asking us is 750km of coastal highway; we should tell you the cost per kilometre so you will multiply it by 750. That's nonsensical."

On why he refused to answer Oseni, Umahi said, "Because you don't understand anything. I'm a professor in this field. You don't understand anything, and you cannot ask me to tell you a cost."

"What university gave you a professorship in Engineering? I didn't know that you were Professor Umahi, minister," Oseni chipped in.

"I'm a professor in practice and I understand engineering very well. You have no knowledge of what you are asking me. So, you keep quiet and stop asking," Umahi said.

Reacting, Sowunmi lamented that TV anchors are now becoming the news because they have abandoned professionalism.

This was as he accused Arise TV, for which Oseni works, of constituting itself as self-appointed prosecutors, judges, and enemies of the state under the guise of journalism.

He shared on X, "When television anchors abandon professionalism for provocation, it becomes the duty of the station’s management to call them to order. But when that failure becomes routine, the National Broadcasting Commission must step in. What can be excused from a citizen’s podcast but we can not and must not be tolerated from a licensed national broadcaster.

"This madness must stop. @ARISEtv and its anchor, @ruffydfire, have crossed too many lines. They can not continue to constitute themselves into self-appointed prosecutors, judges, and enemies of the state under the guise of journalism. There is a difference between questioning power and attacking the very idea of order.

"The supervising Ministry of Information must not remain a bystander while citizens invited in good faith are subjected to insult, rudeness, partisan aggression, and empty intellectual showmanship. The media must enlighten, not incite. It must inform, not inflame.

"Let it be clear: freedom of expression is not freedom to abuse. Regulation is not repression, it is the defence of sanity and national interest. The time has come to draw the line."

ASA