A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has issued a perpetual injunction restraining the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) from imposing fines on broadcast stations in Nigeria.
The court order also set aside the N500,000 fines imposed on each of the 45 broadcast stations on March 1, 2019.
Justice James Omotosho delivered the judgement, stating that the NBC, not being a court of law, has no power to impose sanctions on broadcast stations.
He also held that the NBC Code, which gives the commission the power to impose sanctions, conflicts with Section 6 of the Constitution that vests judicial power in the court of law.
The judge further emphasized that the court would not sit idle and watch a body imposing fine arbitrarily without recourse to the law and the Courts.
He maintained that the commission did not comply with the law when it acted as a complainant and a judge in its own matter.
The Nigeria Broadcasting Code, being a subsidiary legislation, cannot confer judicial powers on the commission to impose criminal sanctions such as fines, the judge added.
He also noted that the commission, not being the Nigerian police, had no power to conduct criminal investigation that would lead to criminal trial and imposition of sanctions.
The Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda had, in a motion dated Nov. 9, 2021, sued the NBC as the sole respondent in the suit.
They sought a declaration that the sanctions procedure applied by the NBC in imposing N500,000 fines on each of the 45 broadcast stations on March 1, 2019, was a violation of the rules of natural justice.
The group argued that the fines were in violation of the right to fair hearing under Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Articles 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act (Cap AQ) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
