Reps propose N5m fine for non-renewal of broadcast licence

The House of Representatives, on Thursday, proposed the sum of N5 million fine for any operator of a broadcasting station who fails to renew the operational licence as provided in the newly proposed amendment to the National Broadcast Commission Act, which scaled through Second Reading.

The private member bill seeks to amend the National Broadcasting Commission Act, 2004 with a view to strengthen the Commission and make it more effective to regulate broadcasting in Nigeria, provide for payment of all monies received by the Commission into the Federation Account in accordance with Section 162 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and encourage liberal openness and favourable competition in the industry; and for related matters, was sponsored by Hon Odebunmi Olusegun and two others.

In his lead debate, Hon Odebunmi said the various amendments would strengthen digital broadcasting in the country and give new life to the licensing procedure.

On the category of ‘Persons disqualified from the grant of a licence, Clause 12C provides that: “Except for the purposes of direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service, the Commission shall not grant a broadcast license to a religious organisation or a political party.

On failure to renew a licence, Clause 13B provides that: “Where a licensee fails, neglects or refuses to renew the license within a period stated under section 13A above, the License stands revoked and shall be returned to the nearest office of the Commission.

“Where a license has expired or has been revoked, it shall be the duty of the person to whom the license was issued and of every other person in whose possession or under whose control the license may be, to cause the license to be surrendered to the Commission; any person who without reasonable excuse fails or refuses to comply with these provisions and shall be guilty of an offence and liable upon conviction to a fine of five million naira.

In the bid to encourage competition in the industry, Clause 19A provides that: “The Commission shall monitor and enforce compliance with the provisions of this Act to identify instances where the commission considers any practice or arrangement by a licensee to substantially lessen or impair fair and effective competition as it relates to the Nigeria Broadcasting industry.”

On the ‘Limitation on cross-media control of private broadcasting’, Clause 19B of the bill provides that: “Cross-media control of private broadcasting services shall be subject to such limitations as may be determined by the Commission to ensure fair and effective competition in the broadcasting industry.

“Any person who controls a newspaper including internet or online publication, may not acquire or retain financial control in more than one of radio or television broadcasting service at anyone/time.

“For the purpose of exercising the powers in pursuant to subsection (1) of this Section, the Commission shall as soon as may be reasonably practicable after the commencement of this Act, conduct an inquiry in accordance with the provisions of sections 19E of this Act and shall in doing so have regard, inter alia, to: (a) The various categories of newspapers, according to the frequency of publication, the geographical extent of circulation and circulation figures as well as any matter relevant to the existing and future control of any such newspaper; and (b) The maximum percentage of financial or voting interest which may be held by anyone or more private broadcasting licensee who controls one or more newspapers or group of newspapers.

“(2) The Digital Access Fund shall be administered as stated below; (a) 40 per cent of the Fund to be shared by the signal distributors on an equal basis to be utilised for the development of digital broadcasting; (b) 10% of the fund to be apportioned to the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria for the improvement and upgrade of studio and broadcasting equipment; (c) 10 per cent of the fund to be apportioned to the Nigerian Television Authority for the improvement and upgrade of the studio of broadcasting equipment; (d) 40 per cent to the National Broadcasting Commission for improvement of Digital Broadcasting Activities, administration and content development.

After the debate, the bill was referred to the Committee on Information, National Orientation, Ethics and Values for further legislative action.

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The 624 new cases reported between March 28 and April 3 is a reduction from the 849 recorded the previous week…Reps propose N5m fine for non-renewal of broadcast licence

Reps propose N5m fine for non-renewal of broadcast licence