Court quashes NBC’s fine against Trust TV, limits commission’s power

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to set aside the N5 million fine it imposed on Trust Television Network over a documentary produced in 2022. The documentary titled, “Nigeria’s Banditry: The Inside Story,” was aired on March 5, 2022 and exposed the criminal activities of non-state actors […]

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to set aside the N5 million fine it imposed on Trust Television Network over a documentary produced in 2022.

The documentary titled, “Nigeria’s Banditry: The Inside Story,” was aired on March 5, 2022 and exposed the criminal activities of non-state actors unleashing hell on innocent Nigerians.

However, while many people hailed Trust TV for the courage to beam its searchlight on the atrocities, the federal government, under then President Muhammadu Buhari, accused the television station of glorifying terrorism.

Alongside Trust TV, NBC also announced N5 million fine each on Multichoice Nigeria Limited, owners of DSTV; TelCom Satellite Limited (TSTV); and NTA-Startimes Limited for broadcasting documentaries on banditry.

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The NBC claimed that the documentaries undermined national security and contravened the provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.

Worried by the development, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) filed a lawsuit marked FHC/L/CS/1486/2022 against Buhari; former Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, and the NBC.

SERAP and CJID asked the court for “a declaration that the imposition of fines on the media houses is unlawful and amounts to a breach of legality, necessity and proportionality principles”.

They also asked the court to stop the commission from using the NBC Act and the Nigeria Broadcasting Code to impose fines, threaten to impose sanctions, harass and intimidate the broadcast stations and other independent media houses in the country.

In his ruling, Hon. Justice Nicholas Oweibo declared that the NBC and its agents lack the legal power and authority to impose penalty unlawfully and unilaterally, including fines, suspension, withdrawal of license or any form of punishment whatsoever on independent media houses for promoting access to diverse information on issues of public importance.

Justice Oweibo also stated that, “SERAP and CJID have been vested with locus standi. Looking at the provisions of the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009 and particularly the preambles to the Rules, the general requirement of locus standi has been done away with. SERAP and CJID are not meddlesome interlopers.”

According to Justice Oweibo, “I have looked at the affidavit in support of the suit, which in this case stands in place of a Statement of Claim. Considering the core mandates of SERAP and CJID and the affidavit in support of their suit, it is to be seen that this is a public interest case.”

Justice Oweibo dismissed the objections raised by the NBC’s counsel and upheld SERAP’s and CJID’s arguments. Consequently, the court entered judgment in favour of SERAP and CJID and against the NBC.