By Ogochukwu Isioma
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, ruled that the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), not being a court of law, lacked the power to impose sanctions as punishment on alleged erring broadcast stations in the country.
The court, in its ruling by Justice James Omotosho, voided the N500,000 fines imposed by the NBC on 45 broadcast stations on March 1, 2019, and stopped the Commission from further imposing fines on broadcast stations.
Ruling on a suit by the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda, Justice Omotosho held that the NBC Code, on which the NBC relies to impose sanction, is in conflict with Section 6 of the Constitution that vested judicial power in the court of law.
He said the court would not sit idle and watch a body imposing fine arbitrarily without recourse to the law, adding that NBC did not comply with the law when it sat as a complainant and at the same time, a court and a judge on its own case.
More details later…
