Good news to all the media houses, media organizations and media practitioners in Nigeria; you can now conduct your affairs firmly without the fear of getting fined by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), for breaking their rules.
By the most recent judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, delivered yesterday, the 10th of May, 2023, his Lordship, Hon. Justice James Kolawole Omotosho held that the NBC lacks the judicial power to act as a jury/judge to punish their purported offenders or those who they claim break their codes of conduct. His lordship, Justice Omotosho thereby gave an order of perpetual injunction restraining NBC from imposing fines henceforth, on broadcast stations or any other person/ organization whatsoever in Nigeria.
Here is the background story;
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On March 1, 2019, the National Broadcasting Commission(NBC) imposed a fine of N500,000 each on 45 broadcast stations for purportedly flouting the NBC code of conduct.
Subsequently, the affected media houses teamed up under the aegis of the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda and sued NBC in an originating motion marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1386/2021, praying to the court to hold that NBC is just an administrator and have no judicial power to sentence, convict or impose punishment on its purported offenders. They also prayed to the court that the action of the NBC of outrightly punishing its purported offenders without giving the offenders the chance to share their own side of the story impedes the principle of fair hearing. They further asked the court to set aside the N500,000 fine the NBC had imposed on them on March 1, 2019, and restrain the NBC from further imposing fines on any other media house or media practitioner in Nigeria.
The court in its wisdom granted all these prayers and further held that the act of the NBC imposing penalties on their offenders offends the provisions of S 6 of the Constitution that have reserved the function of adjudication and imposing punishments exclusively for the judiciary. The court further stated that the act of the NBC arbitrarily fining its purported offenders without giving the offenders a chance to be heard is an affront to the provision of S.36 of the constitution which has sung the praises of the natural principle of fair hearing; thereby stipulating that each party must be given the right to be heard before punishment is imposed.
The court on that note, therefore, set aside the fine of N500,000 that had earlier been imposed on the 45 media houses by the NBC and gave a perpetual restraining order restraining the NBC from further imposing a fine on its purported offenders without recourse to the judicial process.
By the reason of this judgment, the NBC is expected henceforth that whenever they feel aggrieved or that a person has flouted its rule, they are to come before the court and table their grievance, the court will then listen to their grievances on merit and also hear the side of the story of the other party. The NBC can no longer arbitrarily impose fines or punish its purported offenders without recourse to the judiciary.