The clauses that provide the Nigeria Broadcasting Commission the power to sanction broadcast stations for suspected infractions of its broadcasting code have been overturned by a Federal High Court in Abuja.
In her ruling on Wednesday, Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, the presiding court, declared that the NBC is not permitted to exercise its legislative, administrative, or judicial functions concurrently.
Newsmen were provided with a statement by Idowu Adewale, the Communications Officer for Media Rights Agenda, which included this information. A non-governmental organization called MRA filed a lawsuit against the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) alleging that Trust Television, MultiChoice Nigeria Limited, Telcom Satellite Limited, and StarTimes Limited were fined N5 million for screening a documentary on banditry in Zambia in 2020.
In a case brought by attorney Uche Amulu, MRA asked the court to set aside the fine and contested NBC’s jurisdiction to issue penalties. The NGO contended that because the NBC is not a court of law and was not established in a way that ensures these characteristics, it does not have the independence and impartiality required to impose fines on broadcast stations as punishment or sanctions.
commission’s “outrageous conduct in abusing its powers and arbitrarily imposing fines on broadcasting stations,”
N2 million in general damages for the rights NBC violated, or N700,000 for the legal fees involved in taking the case to trial. Grab a punch
