NBC seeks approval to refile appeal against ruling barring it from fining broadcasters

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has asked the Court of Appeal in Abuja for permission to file a fresh appeal against a Federal High Court judgement that barred it from imposing monetary fines on broadcast stations.

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The application was disclosed in a statement on Monday by Idowu Adewale, the communications officer of Media Rights Agenda (MRA).

According to the statement, the commission filed a motion asking the appellate court to extend the time within which it can challenge the lower court’s judgement after its earlier appeal was struck out for being incompetent.

The application follows the Court of Appeal’s 17 June decision striking out the commission’s earlier appeal after it found the notice of appeal to be fundamentally defective because the regulator was wrongly identified as the “Nigerian Broadcasting Commission” instead of its statutory name, the “National Broadcasting Commission.”

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Mr Idowu explained that the NBC through its lawyer, Dapo Akinosun, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), is seeking an extension of time to appeal the 10 January 2024 judgement delivered by Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court in Lagos.

The judgement arose from a suit filed by Media Rights Agenda challenging the commission’s decision to impose N5 million fines on four broadcast platforms over documentaries on banditry and insecurity in Zamfara State.

Mrs Ofili-Ajumogobia held that the fines imposed on Multichoice Nigeria Limited, owners of DStV; TelCom Satellite Limited (TSTV); Trust TV Network Limited; and NTA StarTimes Limited were unlawful and unconstitutional, ruling that the NBC lacked the legal authority to impose such sanctions because it is not a court of law.

Besides seeking an extension of time to appeal, the commission is asking the Court of Appeal for leave to raise a fresh issue challenging Media Rights Agenda’s legal capacity to institute the suit before the Federal High Court.

In its application, the NBC argued that the case raises issues of exceptional public importance because it concerns its statutory powers to regulate broadcasting and enforce compliance with the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.

It warned that allowing the Federal High Court judgement to stand without appellate review could create uncertainty over its regulatory powers, weaken enforcement of broadcasting standards and encourage the dissemination of false, misleading and inflammatory content capable of causing public anxiety and social unrest.

The commission also argued that a weakened regulatory framework could encourage irresponsible broadcasting practices and undermine the orderly regulation of Nigeria’s broadcasting industry, with implications for broadcasters, content creators, media consumers and the wider public.

According to the application, the NBC filed its initial appeal within the period prescribed by law after the January 2024 judgement.

However, the Court of Appeal struck it out after finding that the notice of appeal wrongly described the appellant as the “Nigerian Broadcasting Commission” instead of its statutory name, the “National Broadcasting Commission.”

The regulator attributed the error to an inadvertent mistake by its lawyer and urged the appellate court not to allow the slip to deny it the opportunity to challenge the judgment on its merits.

The Court of Appeal has yet to fix a date for hearing the application.

Background

The latest application is the newest development in a legal battle that has shaped the limits of the NBC’s powers to sanction broadcast stations.

The dispute first reached the courts after the commission, on 1 March 2019, imposed N500,000 fines on 45 broadcast stations for alleged breaches of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.

Media Rights Agenda challenged the sanctions, arguing that the NBC lacked the statutory authority to impose monetary penalties.

On 10 May 2023, another judge James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja agreed with the organisation, setting aside the fines and issuing a perpetual injunction restraining the commission from imposing fines on broadcast stations.

The judge held that fines are criminal sanctions that can only be imposed by courts of law and that the NBC, as an administrative regulator, lacked the constitutional powers to impose them.

READ ALSO: Court restrains NBC from sanctioning broadcasters over code provisions, Amnesty International hails ruling

The commission’s attempt to overturn that decision at the Federal High Court also failed. In November 2023, Judge Omotosho dismissed its application to set aside the judgement, holding that the commission had failed to defend the original suit despite being served with the court processes.

A separate dispute arose from the NBC’s decision to impose N5 million fines on Multichoice Nigeria Limited (DStV), TelCom Satellite Limited (TSTV), Trust TV Network Limited and NTA StarTimes Limited after they aired documentaries on banditry and insecurity in Zamfara State.

In a judgement delivered on 10 January 2024, Ms Ofili-Ajumogobia ruled that the sanctions were unlawful and unconstitutional, holding that the commission lacked the legal authority to impose such fines because it is not a court of law.

She also held that the sanctions infringed on the constitutional right to freedom of expression, including the public’s right to receive information without interference.

The NBC has so far been unsuccessful in its efforts to overturn both judgements. In April this year, the Court of Appeal upheld Mr Omotosho’s judgement, dismissing the commission’s appeal over the N500,000 fines imposed on the 45 broadcast stations.

Barely two months later, on 17 June, another panel of the appellate court struck out the NBC’s appeal against Mrs Ofili-Ajumogobia’s judgement after finding that the notice of appeal was fundamentally defective because it identified the appellant as the “Nigerian Broadcasting Commission” instead of its statutory name, the “National Broadcasting Commission.”

It is that decision that has now prompted the NBC’s latest application asking the Court of Appeal for leave to file a fresh appeal against Mrs Ofili-Ajumogobia’s judgement.