MRA wins as Court of Appeals rejects NBC’s lawsuit barring it from imposing fines

Media Rights Agenda (MRA) on Thursday won the first of two appeals between it and NBC against two rulings of the Federal High Court, presided over by two separate judges.

The calls bordered on banning the commission from imposing further sanctions on the country’s broadcasters.

In a unanimous decision, the Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed an appeal by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to overturn the Federal High Court ruling that permanently barred it from imposing fines on radio and television stations and to quash the fines imposed on 45 broadcasting stations on 1 March 2019 for alleged breaches of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.

In the appeal, NBC asked the Court of Appeal to overturn the ruling issued by Justice James Omotosho on May 10, 2023, in which he ruled that fines are sanctions imposed on a person who has been found guilty of an offense and that under Nigerian law, only the courts have the power to impose sanctions for criminal offences.

On November 23, 2023, the judge also denied NBC’s July 2023 motion to vacate the ruling.

The second appeal, filed by NBC against a similar ruling on January 17, 2024, delivered by Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, also of the Federal High Court, Abuja, is still pending before the same court.

In that appeal, the commission challenges the judge’s decision in a case brought against it by MRA following the imposition of fines of 5 million naira 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.

The body involved in the case has challenged its power to fine broadcasters, in the wake of the Commission’s March 1, 2019 announcement that it had imposed a fine of N500,000 each on 45 broadcasting stations for alleged breaches of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.

Following the commission’s failure to defend the case, Justice Omotosho issued a ruling on 10 May 2023, ruling that fines are sanctions imposed on a person who has been found guilty of a criminal offence.