The Federal High Court, sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos has stopped the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) from sanctioning independent media houses in the country, saying they lack the legal authority to impose fines or other punitive measures.
Justice Nicholas Oweibo made the declaration while ruling on the matter, insisting that NBC’s actions, including the imposition of fines, licence suspensions, and other sanctions, violate constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression, access to information, and fair hearing.
The judgment followed a legal action instituted by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), challenging NBC’s imposition of fines on media outlets in 2022.
These fines it would be recalled were levied against Trust TV, Multichoice Nigeria Limited, NTA-Startimes Limited, and TelCom Satellite Limited for broadcasting documentaries on terrorism, which NBC claimed “glorified banditry” and undermined national security.
Justice Oweibo stated that SERAP and CJID had established the necessary legal standing to sue, emphasizing that the case was of public interest.
He upheld the plaintiffs’ arguments, ruling that NBC’s actions were unconstitutional.
Justice Oweibo equally held that “NBC’s imposition of a ₦5 million fine on the media houses violated fundamental principles of legality, necessity, and proportionality, thereby breaching constitutional and international obligations.
“The use of the Broadcasting Code to impose sanctions without court approval was inconsistent with the Nigerian Constitution and international human rights treaties.”
The judge insisted that the fines imposed on the media houses be set aside, while restraining NBC and its agents from unlawfully sanctioning or harassing media outlets in the future.
Penal sanctions like fines according to Justice Oweibo’s verdicts are criminofal and can only be imposed by a court law.
While stressing the importance of media freedom in promoting diverse public discourse, the trial judge said, “The documentaries aired by the media houses are in the public interest, and punishing them would have a chilling effect on journalism and freedom of expression.”
The case arose after NBC fined several media outlets in 2022 for airing a BBC Africa Eye documentary, Bandits Warlords of Zamfara.
NBC claimed the content violated the Nigeria Broadcasting Code by undermining national security.
But in their arguments, SERAP and CJID tagged the fines were arbitrary, unconstitutional, and an infringement on the rights of the media to report on issues of public importance.
The plaintiffs cited provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to support their claim.
They argued that restrictions on freedom of expression must meet strict legal criteria, which NBC’s actions failed to satisfy.
