A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, gave an order of perpetual injunction restraining the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) from imposing fines on broadcast stations in the country.
Justice James Omotosho who gave the order also set aside the N500,000 fines imposed on 1st March 2019 on each of 45 broadcast stations.
Justice Omotosho held that the NBC, not being a court of law, had no power to impose sanctions as punishment on broadcast stations.
He further held that the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, which gives the commission the power to impose sanction, is in conflict with Section 6 of the Constitution that vested judicial power in the court of law.
The judge said the court would not sit idle and watch a body imposing fine arbitrarily without recourse to the law.
He said that the commission breached the law by being the complainant and at the same time, the court and the judge on its own matter.
While agreeing that the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, being a subsidiary legislation that empowers an administrative body such as the NBC to enforce its provisions, the judge said that it cannot confer judicial powers on the commission to impose criminal sanctions or penalties such as fines.
The judge also agreed that the commission, not being Nigerian police, had no power to conduct criminal investigation that would lead to criminal trial and imposition of sanctions.
“This will go against the doctrine of separation of powers”
He 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.
It will be recalled that the NBC on 1st March,2019 imposed N500, 000 each on 45 broadcast stations in the country over alleged violation of its code.
But In an originating motions marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1386/2021, the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda sued the NBC as sole respondent in the suit.
The group through its lawyer,Noah Ajare In the motion dated 9th November 2021 sought a declaration that the sanctions procedure applied by the NBC in imposing N500,00 fines on each of the 45 broadcast stations on 1st March 2019 was a violation of the rules of natural justice.
Ajare also said that the fines were in violation of the right to fair hearing under 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 Media Rights Agenda argued that this was so because the code, which created the alleged offences of which the broadcast stations were accused was written and adopted by the NBC, “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”.
They, therefore, sought an order setting aside the N500,000 fines purportedly imposed by the NBC on each of the 45 broadcast stations on Friday, 1st March 2019.
The group 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 Nigeria Broadcasting Code”.
Justice Omotosho described the NBC’s act as being ultra vires and therefore declared the NBC fines imposed on broadcast as unconstitutional,null and void.
