Court refuses to reverse judgement stopping national broadcasting commission from fining broadcast stations

The Federal High Court (FHC) sitting in Abuja Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has dismissed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC)’s motion seeking an order setting aside its judgement restraining the commission from imposing fines on broadcast stations in the country.

Penpushing reports that the judge, Justice James Omotosho, in a judgement, delivered on Thursday dismissed all the grounds put forward by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), describing same as an afterthought.

The judge held that despite being served with the originating process and hearing notices in the case leading to the judgment, the commission failed to file its defence, stressing that contrary to the commission’s argument that it was not served with court processes that led to the judgement.

Penpushing further reports that the court file shows that services were effected on the respondent applicant, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) but failed to file and refused to enter appearance, noting that there was an affidavit of facts deposed to by the court bailiff that confirmed that court processes were served on the commission on different occasions.

The court declared that the respondent applicant cannot claim it was not served, and therefore overruled objection, while it is recalled that Omotosho had, on 10 May, given an order of perpetual injunction restraining the commission from imposing fines on broadcast stations.

Penpushing also reports that the judgement equally set aside the N500,000 fines imposed, on March 1, 2019, on each of the 45 broadcast stations alleged to have violated its code., and held that National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), not being a court of law, had no power to impose sanctions as punishment on broadcast stations.

The court in same vein, held that the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Code, which gives the commission the power to impose sanctions, conflicts with Section 6 of the Constitution which vested judicial power in the court of law.

Penpushing reports that the judgement followed a suit filed by Media Rights Agenda (MRA), a civil society organisation concerned with freedom of information with reference number FHC/ABJ/CS/1386/2021, while the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) was the sole respondents

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