Court bars NBC from imposing fines, intimidating broadcast stations
By Sodiq Adelakun
A Federal High Court in Lagos has dealt a significant blow to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), ruling that the regulatory body lacks the legal authority to impose fines or sanctions on independent media outlets without due process.
A statement released on Sunday by the deputy director of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Kolawole Oludare, revealed that Justice Nicholas Oweibo declared that the NBC has no legal authority to unilaterally impose penalties, including fines, suspension, or licence withdrawal, under the NBC Act or the Nigerian Broadcasting Code.
The court’s ruling came after a lawsuit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), challenging the legality of fines imposed on several media houses for airing documentaries on terrorism.
The judgement was delivered in June by Hon. Justice Nicholas Oweibo following a lawsuit brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID).
The certified true copy of the judgement was obtained last Friday.
The suit followed the decision by the NBC in 2022 to impose a fine of N5 million each on Trust TV, Multichoice Nigeria Limited, NTA-Startimes Limited and TeleCom Satellite Limited, over their documentaries on terrorism in the country.
The NBC claimed that the documentaries “glorify the activities of bandits, undermine national security in Nigeria, and contravene the provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.”
In his judgement, Justice Oweibo held that, “The issue of the locus standi of SERAP and CJID need to be resolved first being a threshold issue. It is trite that the Statement of Claim must disclose the Plaintiff’s interest sufficient to clothe him/her with the requisite capacity to sue.”
Justice Oweibo also stated that, “SERAP and CJID have been vested with locus standi. Looking at the provisions of the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009 and particularly the preambles to the Rules, the general requirement of locus standi has been done away with. SERAP and CJID are not meddlesome interlopers.”
According to Justice Oweibo, “I have looked at the affidavit in support of the suit, which in this case stands in place of a Statement of Claim. Considering the core mandates of SERAP and CJID and the affidavit in support of their suit, it is to be seen that this is a public interest case.”
Justice Oweibo dismissed the objections raised by the NBC’s counsel and upheld SERAP’s and CJID’s arguments.
Consequently, the court entered judgement in favour of SERAP and CJID and against the NBC.
