MRA wins another Appeal over NBC’s defective bid to regulate through fines - ITREALMS

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A major victory for press freedom and media autonomy, the Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has successfully defended a landmark judgment restraining the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) from arbitrarily imposing fines on radio and television stations, reports ITREALMS.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has struck out the NBC’s Notice of Appeal, describing the regulatory body's legal filing as "fundamentally defective" and legally incompetent.

The ruling effectively sustains a Federal High Court judgment that perpetually bars the commission from executing unilateral financial penalties against independent broadcast outfits across the federation.

Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Jane Esienanwan Inyang raised a foundational preliminary issue regarding the identity of the parties listed in the appellate process.

The appellate court noted a glaring discrepancy:

Trial Court Records: The original parties at the Federal High Court were explicitly documented as the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda (Applicant) and the National Broadcasting Commission (Respondent).

Appellate Notice: In the appellate filings entered by the regulator’s legal team, the purported appellant mistakenly identified itself as the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission.

Justice Inyang declared this naming discrepancy a fatal error. She stressed that a competent Notice of Appeal serves as the absolute foundation of appellate jurisdiction. Because the appeal was not initiated by the exact legal entity involved at the lower court, the Court of Appeal fundamentally lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the case, rendering the entire application invalid by matter of law.

The legal battle originated from a January 17, 2024 judgment delivered by Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia. MRA had filed the initial suit on September 2, 2022, following the NBC's controversial imposition of $\text{N}5\text{ million}$ fines each on a national television station and three major pay-TV platforms on August 3, 2022.

The broadcasting platforms penalized by the NBC included:

Multichoice Nigeria Limited (DSTV), TelCom Satellite Limited (TSTV), Trust-TV Network Limited, NTA Startimes Limited

The regulatory body had sanctioned these stations for broadcasting investigative documentaries that detailed the surge of banditry and insecurity in Zamfara State, claiming the broadcasts undermined national security.

However, Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia ruled that the NBC’s unilateral heavy-handed fines were unlawful, unconstitutional, and a direct violation of the rights of the MRA, its members, and Nigerian citizens to freedom of expression. The court affirmed that citizens possess an unassailable right to receive ideas and information without state interference, as guaranteed under Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.

This latest judicial defeat marks a pattern of failed attempts by the broadcast regulator to maintain penal powers over national stations.

Just months prior, on April 2, 2026, the same Court of Appeal dismissed an separate appeal by the NBC trying to overturn a May 10, 2023 judgment by Justice James Omotosho. Justice Omotosho had firmly ruled that fines constitute criminal sanctions, and under Nigerian law, only a established court of law holds the constitutional power to try offenses and impose punitive financial sanctions.

For the NBC: Mr. Bashir Ramoni (Partner and Head of Litigations at SimmonsCooper Partners), leading Mr. John Ojelabi and Ms. Rosecarmel Odeh.


For MRA: Mr. Ezenwa Anumnu (Senior Partner at Joint Heirs Chambers), leading Mr. P.Y. Danladi.

By throwing out this latest appeal, the judiciary has once again signaled that regulatory oversight cannot circumvent constitutional provisions or overlook foundational legal procedures.

Chuks Egbune/DoP

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