The Court of Appeal in Abuja has struck out an appeal filed by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) seeking to overturn a Federal High Court judgment that barred the regulator from imposing monetary sanctions on broadcast stations.
Justice Jane Esienanwan Inyang, who delivered the judgment, ruled that the appeal was incompetent because it contained a fundamental defect that deprived the appellate court of the authority to entertain the case.
The legal dispute stemmed from a January 17, 2024 decision by the Federal High Court in Abuja, where Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia restrained the NBC from enforcing N5 million penalties imposed on several television operators in 2022. The sanctions were issued following allegations that the stations endangered national security by airing reports and documentaries relating to banditry and insecurity across Nigeria.
The broadcasters affected by the fines included Multichoice Nigeria Limited, operator of DStv, TelCom Satellite Limited (TSTV), Trust TV Network Limited and NTA StarTimes Limited. The suit was instituted by Media Rights Agenda (MRA), a media advocacy group, which questioned the legality of the sanctions imposed by the commission.
In its judgment, the appellate court pointed to a discrepancy in the documents filed before it. Justice Inyang observed that while the respondent at the Federal High Court was identified as the “National Broadcasting Commission,” the notice of appeal listed the appellant as the “Nigerian Broadcasting Commission.”
According to the court, the notice of appeal forms the basis upon which appellate jurisdiction is exercised, and the inconsistency in the names was significant enough to invalidate the appeal. Consequently, the court struck out the matter without examining the substantive arguments raised by the NBC.
The latest ruling represents another setback for the commission in its efforts to retain powers to directly sanction broadcasters. In April 2026, the Court of Appeal dismissed another appeal filed by the NBC against an earlier judgment restricting its authority to impose fines on media organisations.
The issue has been the subject of several legal battles over the years. In May 2023, the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that the NBC lacked judicial powers to penalise media organisations without due process.
The controversy dates back to March 2019 when the commission imposed N500,000 fines on 45 broadcast stations over alleged breaches of the Nigerian Broadcasting Code during the general elections. At the time, former NBC Director-General Is’haq Kawu maintained that the sanctions were necessary to address ethical violations and ensure compliance with broadcasting regulations.
With the latest Court of Appeal decision, previous court pronouncements limiting the commission’s power to impose fines on broadcasters without recourse to the courts have been further reinforced.
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