The court ruling on NBC

ON May 10, the Federal High Court in Abuja gave an order of perpetual injunction restraining the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) from imposing fines on broadcast stations in the country henceforth. Justice James Omotosho gave the order as he pronounced judgment in a suit filed by the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda against the NBC for its imposition of a fine of N500,000 each on 45 broadcast stations for alleged violation of its code. While delivering the judgement, he also set aside the N500,000 fines imposed on each of the 45 broadcast stations by the NBC on March 1, 2019. The court was emphatic in declaring the NBC Act, which gives the commission the power to be the complainant and judge on the violation of its code, as  being against the rule of natural justice, unconstitutional and ultra vires, and all the actions taken under it null and void.

Expectedly, the Federal Government did not take the judgment kindly. The Director of the Legal Department, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Mr. Nelson Orji, described it as “ill-conceived and dead on arrival because of legal encumbrances.” He claimed that a Federal High Court also sitting in Abuja had earlier given a contrary decision which indicated that the NBC had the power to impose sanctions on erring stations. He then declared that the commission had elected to stick to the earlier judgment which was in its favour, adding that “the NBC is still well within its rights to continue to impose sanctions on broadcast organisations which run foul of the NBC code.”

We completely agree with the decision of the Federal High Court on May 10.  We consider that decision as appropriate, incisive and logical.  The ruling of the court on this issue should lay to rest the abuse of power inflicted on media houses by the NBC. We have had cause in the past to call attention to the arbitrary and authoritarian behaviour of the NBC.  For instance, when in March 2023, the NBC fined Channels Television N5 million for allegedly violating the NBC code in the Seun Okinbaloye-anchored “Politics Today” programme that featured the Labour Party’s vice-presidential candidate, Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed, we condemned its action. The NBC had  based the fine on Senator Datti’s comments, which it maintained were capable of inciting public disorder and therefore violated some sections of the broadcasting code. We condemned the action in its entirety, describing it as hasty, arbitrary and lacking fairness and justice. Our position has been stamped by the decision of the Federal High Court.

For decades, the NBC has used its assumed powers to intimidate broadcast stations in the service of the government in power without let or hindrance. We had maintained that its activities were against democracy and democratic ethos and called on media organisations to challenge its arbitrary  and authoritarian behaviour in court in order to get the powers dismantled, a position which has now been realised. The NBC or any regulatory body cannot be the accuser and judge in its own case. It cannot receive petitions or determine whether its code has been broken or not and at the same time sit over the case and impose a judgment or punishment. To the extent that the NBC Act clearly empowers the NBC to be the accuser and judge in any case of violation of broadcasting standards, it is tyrannical and must be discountenanced.  A neutral body should adjudicate in perceived cases of infractions, and that is the court of law. The entire provisions of the enabling NBC Act need thorough scrutiny and amendments. NBC personnel should no longer determine and punish infractions against the NBC  code without a process that affords any organisation alleged to have contravened the broadcasting codes and standards the opportunity to defend itself.

To be sure, our position is not an endorsement for broadcast stations and media organisations to misbehave or act irresponsibly. Our position is founded on the need to observe due process and ensure fairness. Justice demands that media houses which act in violation of the code should be subjected to a fair process of adjudication to make amends. That is far better than the NBC’s approach of imposing punishment arbitrarily without fair hearing. We call on the government, in light of this court ruling, to refocus the mandate of the NBC as the agency to sensitise broadcast stations to work within the code while reserving violations for the courts to prove. This is a viable way to proceed from the current court ruling on the NBC.