The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday refused to grant an application filed by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) asking the court to dismiss an order barring the agency from imposing fines on broadcast stations.
Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja had on May 10, in a case filed by the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda, held that NBC lacked powers to penalize broadcast stations.
Media Rights Agenda had filed that suit after NBC, on March 1, 2019, sanctioned 45 broadcast stations for what it termed as “ethical infractions during the general election.”
The affected media houses were also fined N500,000 by the NBC.
But Justice Omotosho set aside the fines on the grounds that it violated the media houses’ Constitutional right to fair hearing as enshrined under Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act.
In his decision, Justice James Omotosho dismissed all of the NBC’s arguments, calling them “an afterthought.”
Dissatisfied with the judgment, the NBC counsel, Babatunde Ogala SAN, urged the court to set aside its “default judgment” on the grounds that the verdict was “reached without jurisdiction.”
Despite being served with the originating procedure and hearing notifications in the case leading to the judgment, Justice Omotosho concluded that the commission neglected to file its defence.
Contrary to the NBC’s claim that it was not served with the court procedures that resulted in the decision, the judge stated that “the court file shows that services were affected on the respondent applicant (NBC) but failed to file and refused to enter appearance.”
