{"id":58550,"date":"2022-09-26T13:23:33","date_gmt":"2022-09-26T13:23:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africannewspaper.net\/2022\/09\/26\/nigeria-media-regulators-attempt-to-shut-down-53-stations-triggers-constitutional-war\/"},"modified":"2022-09-26T13:24:01","modified_gmt":"2022-09-26T13:24:01","slug":"nigeria-media-regulators-attempt-to-shut-down-53-stations-triggers-constitutional-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africannewspaper.net\/2022\/09\/26\/nigeria-media-regulators-attempt-to-shut-down-53-stations-triggers-constitutional-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria: Media regulator\u2019s attempt to shut down 53 stations triggers constitutional war"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

On September 8, 2022, the Federal High Court in Lagos extended an earlier order stopping President Muhamadu Buhari and Nigeria\u2019s media regulator, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), from revoking the licenses of 53 broadcast stations over the non-renewal of operating licenses.<\/p>\n

In a ruling by Justice Daniel Emeka Osiagor, Mr. Buhari and the NBC were told that they could not close down the stations until a substantive motion on notice over the constitutionality of the NBC\u2019s move to revoke the licenses is heard.<\/p>\n

Justice Osiagor then adjourned to the 26Th<\/sup>October 2022<\/p>\n

The story was widely reported in Nigeria. It was regarded as one of those random news stories that briefly made it into national discourse, but then faded away. However, this story is far from random \u2013 hidden beneath the hood is a constitutional war in the offing.<\/p>\n

Plaintiffs in the case are asking the court to declare that parts of the very Act establishing the NBC \u2013 specifically the part which clothes it with power to revoke licenses \u2013 is unconstitutional.<\/p>\n

Unexpectedly, the NBC has been forced to abandon its attempts to suspend stations for licensure. Now it could lose its fangs and become a paper tiger.<\/p>\n

The genesis<\/strong><\/p>\n

It should be remembered that the Nigerian Guild of Editors, (NGE), and the Socioeconomic Rights and Accountability Program (SERAP) filed a lawsuit in August against President Buhari, NBC, and other broadcasters for their arbitrary use of NBC Act, and broadcasting code. This was to attack 53 stations for not renewing their licenses.<\/p>\n

SERAP and NGE filed a lawsuit against President Buhari and Lai Mohammed, Nigeria\u2019s Minister of Information | photo: fiscalposts.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After NBC had revoked licenses for 53 stations and threatened to close down their operations within 24hrs if they incurred N2.6 billion in debts,<\/p>\n

The regulatory body had directed the stations, \u201cto pay all outstanding license fees on or before August 23, 2022, or shut down by 12 am on August 24.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the NGE and SERAP had responded with the suit (FHC\/L\/CS\/1582\/2022) at the Federal High Court in Lagos asking the court to \u201cdetermine whether section 10(a) of the Third Schedule of the National Broadcasting Act used by NBC to revoke the licenses of the 53 stations is not inconsistent and incompatible with freedom of expression and access to information as contained in the 1999 constitution as amended.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Honorable Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed was joined as a Defendant in the suit by Iyobosa Uwugiaren, the General Secretary of NGE, and Kolawole Oluwadare the Deputy Director at SERAP.<\/p>\n

Battleline between Constitution & NBC Act<\/strong><\/p>\n

Plaintiffs accused NBC of acting unconstitutionally on the basis of NBC Act and infringing the freedom to express opinions which is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic.<\/p>\n

Plaintiffs claim that the NBC is trying to shut down stations and also seeks to exercise Judicial power, which it doesn’t have.<\/p>\n

NGE and SERAP, therefore, asked the court to declare that, Section 10(a) of the NBC Act which it is trying to use to close down the stations contradicts the Nigerian constitution\u2019s provision for the freedom of the press and therefore, null and void to the extent of its inconsistency and incompatibility.<\/p>\n

The arbitrary action taken by NBC to revoke licenses and close down stations’ operations is directly in violation of sections 6 and 39(1) of Nigeria’s Constitution and the human rights treaties ratified Nigeria. It is therefore null and void as well as ultra vires.<\/p>\n

Laws in dispute<\/strong><\/p>\n

Section 10 (a), NBC Act, gives the authority to revoke licenses of broadcast stations for a variety reasons, including non renewal of license. \u00a0Its first subsection is: \u201c<\/strong>A licence may be revoked by the Commission in the following cases, that is- (a)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0where the prescribed fee has not been paid on the due date.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

However, as pointed out by the NGE, it contradicts Section 39 of the constitution of Nigeria which guarantees\u00a0the Right to the freedom of expression and the press. <\/em><\/p>\n

First two subsections of Section 39 of the constitution read, \u201c(1) Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to<\/em>
Without interference, ideas and information can be received and shared.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201c(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, every person shall be entitled to own, establish and operate any medium for the dissemination of information, ideas and opinions.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The Plaintiffs argue that Section 6 of Federal Constitution gives all Judicial powers to the Judiciary. They also claim that by trying to shut down stations, the NBC was abrogating such judicial power to itself.<\/p>\n

Arguments<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the suit, NGE and SERAP argue that, \u201cthe provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and human rights treaties on freedom of expression indicate that this right (freedom of the press) can be exercised through any medium.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEffectively, these provisions recognize that every individual has the right to an equal opportunity to receive, seek and impart information through any communication medium without discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Plaintiffs argued that the use NBC Act and NBC Code as a basis for closing down stations over non-renewal license would encourage and culturalize arbitrary uses of the law against media houses.<\/p>\n

According to the Plaintiffs, per the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights, licensing processes are supposed to promote diversity in broadcasting.<\/p>\n

Other reliefs sought<\/strong><\/p>\n

The plaintiffs, therefore, asked the court to declare that the NBC\u2019s move order to revoke the licenses is contrary to the public interest and the guiding principles of freedom of expression, and therefore should be nullified and set aside.<\/p>\n

It also asked for an order to the President to direct NBC and the Minister to withdraw the revocation orders in compliance with the provisions of section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution, and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights.<\/p>\n

An order of perpetual injunction was issued to stop President Buhari’s unilateral revoking of the broadcast licenses and closing down 53 stations.<\/p>\n

Interim Injunction<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the meantime, Justice Akintayo Aluko, who presided, had granted an interim order restraining President Buhari’s right to revoke the licenses of the stations, and shutting down their operations while the hearing of the motion on notice of interlocutory.<\/p>\n

Waterloo <\/strong><\/p>\n

As things stand now, it would appear that NBC\u2019s move to close down the 53 stations over the non-renewal of licenses has boomeranged. NBC may soon lose its grip on the stations it terrorized by its terror.<\/p>\n

If the NGE\/SERAP case is successful, then NBC won’t be able to revoke broadcast stations’ licenses if they are unable to renew them in the future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source: mfwa.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On September 8, 2022, the Federal High Court in Lagos extended an earlier order stopping President Muhamadu Buhari and Nigeria\u2019s media regulator, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), from revoking the licenses of 53 broadcast stations over the non-renewal of operating licenses. In a ruling by Justice Daniel Emeka Osiagor, Mr. Buhari and the NBC were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nNigeria: Media regulator\u2019s attempt to shut down 53 stations triggers constitutional war - African News Paper<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africannewspaper.net\/2022\/09\/26\/nigeria-media-regulators-attempt-to-shut-down-53-stations-triggers-constitutional-war\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nigeria: Media regulator\u2019s attempt to shut down 53 stations triggers constitutional war - African News Paper\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On September 8, 2022, the Federal High Court in Lagos extended an earlier order stopping President Muhamadu Buhari and Nigeria\u2019s media regulator, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), from revoking the licenses of 53 broadcast stations over the non-renewal of operating licenses. 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