Media professionals have continued to express satisfaction with recent court ruling nullifying provisions of Broadcasting Code empowering National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to impose fines on broadcasters.

Recall, a Federal High Court in Abuja, last week, declared null and void, provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code authorising the NBC to impose fines on broadcast stations for alleged breach of the Code, as it ruled that administrative and regulatory bodies could not exercise judicial powers.

Delivering judgment in a suit instituted by Media Rights Agenda (MRA) against the NBC following the commission’s imposition of fines of N5million each on a television station and three pay TV platforms in 2022 for allegedly undermining Nigeria’s national security by broadcasting documentaries on banditry in Nigeria, Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia held that the NBC not being a court of law, acted above its powers by imposing such fines.

In her judgment, Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia agreed with all MRA’s arguments and granted all the declarations and injunction sought by the organisation. She, however, refused to grant the organisation’s claim for N700,000 as costs it incurred in litigating the action; another claim for N2million as general damages for NBC’s infringement on its rights as well as a request for N1 million as punitive damages for the Commission’s “outrageous conduct in abusing its powers and arbitrarily imposing fines on broadcasting stations.”

The judge also commended MRA for its legal challenge of the NBC’s action and issued an order of perpetual injunction restraining the commission or anyone acting on its behalf from further imposing any fine on any media platform or broadcast station in Nigeria for any alleged offence committed under the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.

Fielding questions from The Guardian, Executive Secretary Broadcasting Organisation of Nigerian (BON), Yemisi Bamgbose, said, “the judgment directly aligned with the position of BON that NBC cannot be the accuser, prosecutor and judge in its own case.”

To him, “this has been our position. We made this position known to NBC at various times of engagement with it on matters of arbitrary imposition of fines without following due process. The judgment has not cancelled imposition of fines but that can only come after a Court of competent jurisdiction has heard the allegations brought by NBC against any organisation that  have been alleged to have violated or contravene the codes of NBC or any known law. To us as an organisation, we are in agreement with the judgment. The judgment of the Court remains the authority until otherwise decided and all BON members will adhere strictly to it.”

However, he stressed the need for broadcasters and broadcast media outfits to be professionally minded in their professional assignments.He cautioned, “there are laws that can be invoked not necessarily by NBC but by individuals. We as Broadcasters must avoid libel and defamation and any other acts that might be used to drag us to Court.

“One beautiful thing is that the Court has established it clearly that NBC should allow those who are saddled with interpretation of laws and also saddled with responsibility of determining the wrongness or rightness of any act to perform that role.”

Speaking in a similar vein, multi media journalist/ researcher, Yemisi Lanre-Idowu, noted, “I’ve always had my reservations with NBC and the way it carries out its function as a government agency and I’m totally in sinc with the court ruling.”

Over time, she recalled the NBC has been the legislator and the judge, “violating and gagging press freedom and right to expression.” She added, “don’t get me wrong, the way journalists and broadcasters carry out their duties via the various medium also need some strict form of regulation, so we don’t do away with the ethos of the profession, which we are experiencing now with many reports being churned out without thorough investigation and facts.

They  need to be guided and guarded with the broadcast ethics and codes but then that is where the NBC should be seen as more of a regulator, unfortunately, they are seen as doing the government bidding, hence, the sanctions meted on erring offenders not taken seriously as doing their job but witch hunting.”

Abuja-based human rights lawyer, Mr. Uche Amulu, filed the suit on behalf of MRA, asking the court to hold, among other things, the NBC’s action of imposing a fine on each of the media platforms and the station for broadcasting a documentary about the state of banditry and security in Zamfara State is unlawful and unconstitutional and has a chilling effect on the freedom of media to impart information and ideas.

MRA contended that it would deter the platforms and station from reporting the true state of affairs regarding the security situation in Nigeria, and therefore, constitutes a violation of the rights of MRA, its members, and other citizens of Nigeria to freedom of expression, particularly their rights to receive ideas and information without interference, as guaranteed by the Constitution and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.

MRA also sought a declaration that the procedure adopted by the NBC in imposing the fines is a flagrant violation of the rules of natural justice and the right to fair hearing under Section 36 of the Constitution and Article 7 of the African Charter as the Commission is the drafter of the Code, which provides for the alleged offences for which the media platforms and the station were punished,  and which empowers the NBC to receive complaints, investigate and adjudicate on the complaints, impose fines and collect fines.

MRA contended that the NBC, not being a court of law and not having been constituted in a manner as to secure its independence and impartiality, has no power or competence to impose fines on broadcast stations as punishment or penalties for the commission of an offence as the competence to establish that an offence has been committed and to impose criminal sanctions or penalties belongs to the courts.

Besides, it claimed, the NBC, not being the Nigerian Police or a law enforcement agency, has no power to conduct a criminal investigation or an investigation that could lead to criminal charges against the affected media platforms and stations or the imposition of criminal penalties and accordingly, that the investigation purportedly conducted by the Commission, leading to the fines imposed on the media platforms and station for alleged offences under the Nigeria Broadcasting Code is ultra vires, null and void.