In a significant legal development, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has been barred from imposing fines on Nigerian broadcast stations by an Abuja Federal High Court.

The presiding judge, James Omotosho, delivered the ruling on Wednesday, stating that the NBC does not possess the judicial authority to levy penalties.

Justice Omotosho issued a perpetual injunction order, prohibiting the NBC from imposing fines on broadcast stations across the country.

Furthermore, he overturned the previously imposed N500,000 fines that were individually levied on 45 broadcast stations on March 1, 2019.

During the court proceedings, Justice Omotosho emphasized that the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), not being a court of law, lacked the authority to impose sanctions or penalties on broadcast stations as a form of punishment.

He also highlighted that the NBC Code, which grants the commission the power to impose such sanctions, conflicted with Section 6 of the Constitution, which explicitly vests judicial power in the courts of law.

Justice Omotosho made it clear that the court could not stand idly by while an organization imposed fines in an arbitrary manner, without adhering to the legal framework.

Justice Omotosho highlighted that the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) had failed to adhere to the law by assuming the role of both the complainant and the judge in its own matter.

He acknowledged that the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, being a subsidiary legislation that grants administrative authority to bodies like the NBC to enforce its provisions, cannot grant the commission judicial powers to impose criminal sanctions or penalties, including fines.

Additionally, the judge agreed that the NBC, not being the Nigerian police, lacked the jurisdiction to conduct criminal investigations that would result in criminal trials and the imposition of sanctions.

“This will go against the doctrine of separation of powers,” he said.

Omotosho held that what the doctrine sought to achieve was to prevent tyranny by concentrating too much powers in one organ.

“The action of the respondent qualifies as excessiveness” as it had ascribed to itself the judicial and executive powers.

According to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria, it was revealed that on March 1, 2019, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) imposed a fine of N500,000 on each of the 45 broadcast stations in Nigeria. The fines were allegedly imposed due to the stations’ alleged violation of the NBC code.

the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda, through their lawyer Noah Ajare, filed an originating motion marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1386/2021 against the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) as the sole respondent in the lawsuit.

In the motion dated November 9, 2021, the group sought a declaration that the sanctions procedure applied by the NBC, which imposed N500,000 fines on each of the 45 broadcast stations on March 1, 2019, was a violation of the rules of natural justice.

Furthermore, the lawyer representing the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda argued that the fines imposed on the broadcast stations violated the right to fair hearing as guaranteed by Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Articles 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act (Cap AQ) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

The group contended that the fines were in violation of these rights because the code, which established the alleged offenses for which the broadcast stations were accused, was written and adopted by the NBC itselfitself “and also gives powers to the said commission to receive complaints of alleged breaches, investigate and adjudicate the complaints, impose sanctions, including fines, and ultimately collect the fines, which the commission uses for its own purposes.”

Consequently, the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda requested the court to issue an order nullifying the N500,000 fines that were allegedly imposed by the NBC on each of the 45 broadcast stations on Friday, March 1, 2019.

They also sought “an order of perpetual Injunction restraining the respondent, its servants, agents, privies, representatives or anyone acting for or on its behalf, from imposing fines on any of the broadcast stations or any other broadcast station in Nigeria for any alleged offence committed under the Nigerian Broadcasting Code.”

In his judgment, Justice Omotosho characterized the actions of the NBC as exceeding its legal authority, describing them as ultra vires. He ruled that the fines imposed by the NBC as a form of punishment for violations of its code were in violation of the law and declared them unconstitutional, null, and void.

Furthermore, the judge issued a perpetual injunction, permanently restraining the NBC from imposing fines on broadcast stations across the country.