Court stops NBC from imposing fines on broadcast stations in Nigeria

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, 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, who gave the order in a judgment he delivered in a suit filed by the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda also, set aside the N500,000 fines imposed on March 1, 2019, on each of the 45 broadcast stations.

Justice Omotosho held that the NBC, not being a court of law, had no power to impose sanctions as punishment on broadcast stations and further held that the NBC Code, which gives the commission the power to impose sanctions, is in conflict with Section 6 of the Constitution that vested judicial power in the court of law.

He said the court would not sit idle and watch a body imposing fine arbitrarily without recourse to the law, adding 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.

The judge agreed that the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, being a subsidiary legislation that empowers an administrative body like the NBC to enforce its provisions cannot confer judicial powers on the commission to impose criminal sanctions or penalties such as fines.

He also agreed that the commission, not being Nigerian police, had no power to conduct criminal investigation that would lead to criminal trial and imposition of sanctions.