{"id":115174,"date":"2024-11-17T17:51:37","date_gmt":"2024-11-17T16:51:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=115174"},"modified":"2024-11-17T17:51:37","modified_gmt":"2024-11-17T16:51:37","slug":"court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/","title":{"rendered":"Court Stops NBC From Imposing Fines On Broadcast Stations"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to \u201cstop 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.\u201d<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\nThe court declared that \u201cthe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judgment was delivered in June by Hon. Justice Nicholas Oweibo following a lawsuit brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID). The certified true copy of the judgment was obtained last Friday.<\/p>\n

The suit followed the decision by the NBC in 2022 to impose a fine of N5 million each on Trust TV, Multichoice Nigeria Limited, NTA-Startimes Limited and TelcCom Satellite Limited, over their documentaries on terrorism in the country.<\/p>\n

The NBC claimed that the documentaries \u201cglorify the activities of bandits, undermine national security in Nigeria, and contravene the provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his judgment, Justice Oweibo held that, \u201cThe issue of the locus standi of SERAP and CJID need to be resolved first being a threshold issue. It is trite that the Statement of Claim must disclose the Plaintiff\u2019s interest sufficient to clothe him\/her with the requisite capacity to sue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justice Oweibo also stated that, \u201cSERAP 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Justice Oweibo, \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justice Oweibo dismissed the objections raised by the NBC\u2019s counsel and upheld SERAP\u2019s and CJID\u2019s arguments. Consequently, the court entered judgment in favour of SERAP and CJID and against the NBC.<\/p>\n

Justice Oweibo\u2019s judgment, dated 13 June, 2024, read in part: \u201cThis is an action alleging breach of the fundamental rights of SERAP and CJID to freedom of expression, access to information and media freedom and fair hearing guaranteed under sections 22, 36 and 39 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended].\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to \u201cstop using the NBC Act and the Nigeria Broadcasting Code to impose fines, threaten to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":100406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nCourt Stops NBC From Imposing Fines On Broadcast Stations - Pointblank News<\/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:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Court Stops NBC From Imposing Fines On Broadcast Stations - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to \u201cstop using the NBC Act and the Nigeria Broadcasting Code to impose fines, threaten to…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-17T16:51:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/NBC.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"269\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"headline\":\"Court Stops NBC From Imposing Fines On Broadcast Stations\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-17T16:51:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/\"},\"wordCount\":443,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/NBC.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/\",\"name\":\"Court Stops NBC From Imposing Fines On Broadcast Stations - Pointblank News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/NBC.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-17T16:51:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/NBC.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/NBC.jpeg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":269},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Court Stops NBC From Imposing Fines On Broadcast Stations\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\",\"name\":\"Pointblank News\",\"description\":\"Just the news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\",\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Our Reporter\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Court Stops NBC From Imposing Fines On Broadcast Stations - Pointblank News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Court Stops NBC From Imposing Fines On Broadcast Stations - Pointblank News","og_description":"The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to \u201cstop using the NBC Act and the Nigeria Broadcasting Code to impose fines, threaten to…","og_url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/","og_site_name":"Pointblank News","article_published_time":"2024-11-17T16:51:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":269,"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/NBC.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Our Reporter","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Our Reporter","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/"},"author":{"name":"Our Reporter","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"headline":"Court Stops NBC From Imposing Fines On Broadcast Stations","datePublished":"2024-11-17T16:51:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/"},"wordCount":443,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/NBC.jpeg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/","name":"Court Stops NBC From Imposing Fines On Broadcast Stations - Pointblank News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/NBC.jpeg","datePublished":"2024-11-17T16:51:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/NBC.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/NBC.jpeg","width":500,"height":269},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/court-stops-nbc-from-imposing-fines-on-broadcast-stations\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Court Stops NBC From Imposing Fines On Broadcast Stations"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/","name":"Pointblank News","description":"Just the news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c","name":"Our Reporter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Our Reporter"},"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}