Article Summary
- Nigeria’s National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has announced its plan to appeal a Federal High Court judgment that limits its powers to impose fines on broadcast stations.
- The Director-General of NBC, Mallam Balarabe Ilelah, stated that the commission has applied for a Certified Copy of the judgment and will proceed with the appeal.
- The ruling by the Federal High Court nullified NBC’s authority to impose fines, citing that the commission is not a court and lacks the power to impose sanctions on broadcast stations. The court set aside the N500,000 fines previously imposed on 45 broadcast stations.
Nigeria’s National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) announced it will appeal the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja which it limits it powers to impose fines on broadcast stations.
This was disclosed in a statement by its Director-General of NBC, Mallam Balarabe Ilelah, on Friday in Abuja.
He stated that NBC has applied for a Certified Copy of the judgment and will appeal.
Appeal
The NBC Chief said the attention of the National Broadcasting Commission has been drawn to a ruling by the Federal High Court, Abuja nullifying its powers to impose fines on broadcast stations that violate the provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, he added:
- “In view of the foregoing, the commission has applied for a Certified Copy of the judgment.
- ” It is global best practice and the ethics of the legal profession, that no party to a suit can freely comment on a judgment it has not seen and read.
- “The commission will appeal against the judgment when found to be in conflict with previous judgments of the court, which empowers the commission to regulate broadcasting in Nigeria.”
Backstory
Recall Nairametrics reported earlier that A Federal High Court Abuja, on Wednesday placed an order on the Nigerian Government through the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) from imposing fines, on broadcast stations in Nigeria.
The ruling was handed by Justice James Omotosho, citing that NBC is not a court and had no power to impose sanctions as punishment on broadcast stations.
The Justice also set aside the N500,000 fines imposed, on March 1, 2019, on each of the 45 broadcast stations.
Justice Omotosho held that NBC, not being a court of law, had no power to impose sanctions as punishment on broadcast stations.
The report revealed that he held that the NBC Code, which gives the commission the power to impose a sanction, is in conflict with Section 6 of the Constitution that vested judicial power in the court of law, they said:
- “Justice James Omotosho, in a judgement, also set aside the N500,000 fines imposed, on March 1, 2019, on each of the 45 broadcast stations.
- “He said the court would not sit idle and watch a body imposing fine arbitrarily without recourse to the law.
- “He said that the commission did not comply with the law when it sat as a complainant and at the same time, the court and the judge on its own matter.”
