A Federal High Court in Abuja today declared null and void the provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code authorizing the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to impose fines on broadcast stations for alleged breaches of the Code as it ruled that administrative and regulatory bodies could not exercise judicial powers.
Delivering judgment in a suit instituted by Media Rights Agenda (MRA) against the NBC following the Commission’s imposition of fines of N5 million each on a television station and three pay TV platforms in 2022 for allegedly undermining Nigeria’s national security by broadcasting documentaries on banditry in Nigeria, Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia held that the NBC not being a court of law, acted above its powers by imposing such fines.
The judge commended MRA for its legal challenge of the NBC’s action and issued an order of perpetual injunction restraining the Commission or anyone acting on its behalf from further imposing any fine on any media platform or broadcast station in Nigeria for any alleged offence committed under the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.
The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) sitting at Area 3, Garki-Abuja on Tuesday March 29, 2022 delivered a landmark judgement on suit number NICN/ABJ/139/2021, in favour of Stella Okoh-Esene, the immediate past chairperson of the National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, reports ITREALMS.
The court also reinstated her membership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and reaffirmed that her Advanced Diploma Certificate from Times Journalism Institute (TJI) Lagos, remained valid qualification to practice the profession, aside her 20-year experience on the job.
