Appeal court strikes out NBC bid to revive appeal over powers to fine broadcasters
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has struck out another attempt by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to overturn a Federal High Court judgment restraining it from imposing fines on radio and television stations.
In a unanimous judgment delivered on Wednesday, the appellate court dismissed the commission’s appeal, holding that its notice of appeal was fundamentally defective and incapable of conferring jurisdiction on the court.
Delivering the lead judgment, Jane Inyang held that the appeal was incompetent because of a discrepancy in the identity of the appellant. While the original suit at the Federal High Court was between the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda and the National Broadcasting Commission, the notice of appeal described the appellant as the “Nigerian Broadcasting Commission”, a different legal entity.
Justice Inyang ruled that the inconsistency was a fundamental defect that deprived the court of the jurisdiction required to hear the appeal.
“The notice of appeal and the accompanying briefs are fundamentally defective and do not and cannot confer jurisdiction on this court to hear and determine the appeal.”
The court stressed that a valid notice of appeal is the foundation of any appeal and an essential requirement for the exercise of appellate jurisdiction. It consequently held that there was “no appeal in fact and in law” before it and struck out the case for incompetence.
The appeal arose from a judgment delivered on 17 January 2024 by Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, who declared that the NBC acted unlawfully and unconstitutionally when it imposed N5m fines on MultiChoice Nigeria Limited (DStv), TelCom Satellite Limited (TStv), Trust TV Network Limited and NTA StarTimes Limited in August 2022.
The broadcasters had been sanctioned after airing documentaries on banditry and insecurity in Zamfara State, which the NBC argued undermined national security.
Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia held that the sanctions violated the constitutional right to freedom of expression, including citizens’ right to receive information without interference, as guaranteed under Section 39 of the Constitution and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The latest decision marks another setback for the broadcast regulator in its efforts to defend its sanctioning powers.
In April 2026, the Court of Appeal also dismissed a separate NBC appeal challenging a 10 May 2023 judgment by James Omotosho, which held that monetary fines are criminal sanctions that can only be imposed by courts of law, not administrative agencies. The appellate court had earlier rejected the commission’s application to set aside that judgment in November 2023.
The latest ruling further strengthens judicial limits on the NBC’s authority to impose monetary penalties on broadcast organisations without prior court intervention.