By Samson Obande,  Lafia

The Nasarawa State House of Assembly has called for the retraining of staff of Nasarawa Broadcasting Service, NBS, on modern broadcasting techniques ahead of the completion of the station’s upgrade and rebranding.

Chairman, House Committee on Information, Hon. Jonah Ali Dizaho, made the position known on Wednesday during an oversight visit to the station.

The committee was at NBS to assess the ongoing upgrade and rebranding of the broadcast outfit and to ensure strict adherence to contractual terms.

After the inspection, the committee, alongside management of the Ministry of Information and the station, proceeded to a budget performance review of the second quarter of 2026, where issues around the upgrade dominated discussions.

On concerns over epileptic power supply after the upgrade, the Executive Vice Chairman of NBS, Awwulu Salihu, said management is exploring available options. The committee however advocated for the installation of an alternative source of energy to protect the new facilities.

Expressing optimism that NBS will operate at a higher level after the upgrade, Salihu revealed that the removal of field cameras and TV editing suites from the initial contract due to budget constraints is an area where stakeholders need to intervene to avoid undermining the original intent of the project.

Dizaho therefore called for the immediate training of NBS staff on modern technicalities of broadcasting to enable them to effectively man the new equipment.

Meanwhile, when the management of the State Ministry of Information appeared before the committee, the issue of designated state-owned hotels resurfaced. The committee expressed disappointment that its intervention in the last three years for the Office of the Secretary to the State Government to return the control and management of the hotels to the ministry has been ignored.

The committee was also taken aback to learn that the Farin Ruwa Waterfalls at Tunga Nupawa, Lafia LGA, designated as a recreation centre awaiting national and state input, is currently being controlled by the Ministry of Agriculture instead of Information. Dizaho pledged to summon the SSG and the Commissioner for Agriculture for institutional redress.

Meantime, when the management of the Ministry of Tertiary and Technical Education appeared before the House Committee on Education, discussions centred on additional structures at the Institute of Leather and Science Technology, Doma.

Also, the management of the Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board received commendation from the House Committee on Pilgrims Affairs, led by Aliyu Nana, for prudent expenditure.