NBC Seeks Court’s Permission to File Fresh Appeal Against Judgment Restraining it from Imposing Fines on Broadcast Stations

Claiming that sanity in broadcasting in Nigeria is now threatened, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has asked the Court of Appeal in Abuja to allow it bring a fresh appeal against a Federal High Court judgment restraining it from imposing fines on broadcast stations, following the Appeal Court’s June 17, 2026 decision rejecting the Commission’s earlier appeal for being “fundamentally defective” and incompetent.

In a motion on notice filed on its behalf by Abuja-based lawyer, Mr. Dapo Akinosun (SAN), the NBC is asking the Court to extend the time within which it can appeal against the January 10, 2024 judgment by Federal High Court judge, Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, in a suit instituted by Media Rights Agenda (MRA) over the Commission’s imposition of fines of N5 million each on a television station and three pay TV platforms for allegedly undermining Nigeria’s national security by broadcasting documentaries about the state of banditry and insecurity in Zamfara State. 

In the judgment, Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia held that the NBC’s act of imposing fines of ?5 million each on Multichoice Nigeria Limited, owners of DSTV; TelCom Satellite Limited (TSTV); Trust-TV Network Limited; and NTA Startimes Limited, was unlawful and unconstitutional as the Commission lacked the authority to impose fines on broadcasters since it is not a court of law.

The NBC's first appeal against the judgment was struck out by the Court of Appeal on June 17, 2026, on the ground that its Notice of Appeal and the accompanying briefs were fundamentally defective as “Nigerian Broadcasting Commission” was described as the appellant in the documents instead of “National Broadcasting Commission.”

Outlining the grounds of its motion to file an appeal, the NBC said sanity in broadcasting is threatened and that the public interest will be better served if the Court grants its application.

It contended that the judgment it wants to appeal “raises questions of exceptional public importance concerning the statutory powers of the National Broadcasting Commission to regulate broadcasting and enforce compliance with broadcasting standards in Nigeria,” adding that unless “the proposed appeal is heard and determined on its merits, the subsisting judgment is capable of creating significant uncertainty regarding the Commission's regulatory powers and its ability to effectively discharge its statutory mandate.”

The NBC argued that the continued operation of Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia’s judgment, without the appellate court’s pronouncement on the issues raised, could weaken the regulatory framework governing the broadcasting industry and undermine the uniform enforcement of the Broadcasting Code, adding that “A weakened regulatory framework may embolden non-compliance with established broadcasting standards, thereby increasing the dissemination of false, misleading and unverified information capable of causing unnecessary public anxiety, panic and social unrest.”

It claimed that the “absence of effective regulatory oversight may further encourage irresponsible broadcasting practices and the misuse of broadcast and digital media platforms by persons who deliberately publish sensational, inaccurate or inflammatory content to intimidate, harass or unduly influence individuals, institutions and public discourse.”

The Commission pleaded that its proposed appeal “raises substantial issues affecting not only the parties to the suit but also the integrity, stability, and orderly regulation of Nigeria’s broadcasting ecosystem, with far-reaching implications for broadcasters, content creators, consumer of media content and the general public.”

It said following Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia’s judgment on January 10, 2024, it promptly instructed its lawyers to appeal the judgment and that an appeal was duly filed on March 18, 2024, within the period prescribed by Law.

The Commission is also asking the court to grant it leave to raise and argue a fresh issue on appeal relating to the legal capacity of MRA to institute and maintain the original suit before the Federal High Court.

Saying that the earlier Notice of Appeal demonstrates its diligence and its unequivocal intention to challenge the judgment, the NBC stressed that the earlier appeal was initiated within time but was subsequently struck out on the ground that the Commission’s statutory name was wrongly described in the Notice of Appeal as the “Nigerian Broadcasting Commission”.

It pleaded that the defect in the earlier Notice of Appeal, which “resulted in the striking out of the appeal arose solely from an inadvertent misdescription” of its statutory name, which was an error made by its lawyer.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the motion.

×