Court extends order stopping NBC from shutting down indebted broadcast stations

A federal high court in Lagos has extended the order restraining President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) from revoking the licences of 53 broadcast stations in the country.

NBC had, on August 19, announced a revocation of the licences of the stations over an accumulated debt of over N2 billion.

Balarabe Shehu Ilelah, director-general of the commission, had said the stations have been owing NBC since 2015..

Akintayo Aluko, a judge, on August 29, granted an order of interim injunction stopping the NBC president and the commission from going ahead with its decision.

He gave the order while ruling on an ex parte application filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE).

At the court session on Thursday, Daniel Osiagor, another judge of the high court, extended the order of interim injunction pending the hearing of the motion on notice.

He adjourned the matter till October 26, 2022, for the hearing of the originating summons.

SERAP and NGE had sued Buhari and NBC, asking the court to declare that the commission’s shutdown threat is “unconstitutional and unlawful, as it violates freedom of expression”.

They sought “an order of interim injunction restraining Buhari and NBC, their agents from revoking the licences of 53 broadcast stations in the country and shutting down their operations, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed contemporaneously in this suit”.

In the main suit marked FHC/L/CS/1582/2022, the plaintiffs averred that “the provisions of the Nigerian constitution and human rights treaties on freedom of expression indicate that this right can be exercised through any medium”.

“Effectively, these provisions recognise that every individual has the right to an equal opportunity to receive, seek and impart information through any communication medium without discrimination,” the suit reads.

“The use of the NBC Act and Code, in this case, would inadmissibly open the door to arbitrariness and would fundamentally restrict the freedom of expression that is an integral part of the public order protected the Nigerian Constitution and human rights treaties to which Nigeria is a state party.

“The media plays an essential role as a vehicle or instrument for the exercise of freedom of expression and information – in its individual and collective aspects – in a democratic society.

“Indeed, the media has the task of distributing all varieties of information and opinion on matters of general interest.”

Meanwhile, the commission has suspended the revocation of the licences following the intervention of key stakeholders.