The National Broadcasting Corporation, -NBC, has come under intense backlash for revoking the operational licenses of some of the broadcast stations in Nigeria in a flagrant disregard of already existing protocols. Earlier on Friday 19 August 2022, NBC sanctioned the stations, citing their inability to renew their licenses.
The broadcast regulator gave the affected media outlets “24 hours to close down their operations” and also directed its offices across the country to “collaborate with security agencies to ensure immediate compliance”, NBC said, in a statement given by its Director-General Balarabe Shehu Ilelah.
The notable broadcasting stations affected are the African Independent Television -AIT, and the Silverbird Networks. Ilelah further clarified that the second tranche of defaulters would be released soonest.
Reacting to the situation, the Nigerian Union of Journalists and the Media Rights Agenda -MRA, had criticized NBC’s regulatory body.
The National President of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, -NUJ, Chris Isiguzo said, “The decision today by the industry regulator, the National Broadcasting Commission – NBC, to revoke the licenses of 52 broadcast stations nationwide over-indebtedness to the Commission was ill-advised.
“The affected stations, according to NBC are said to owe arrears of license fees amounting to N2.6 billion since 2015. Although the Director General of NBC, Malam Balarabe Shehu Ilelah claimed that this development had no political motives, we insist that the action was ill-timed and reckless. It should be noted that this wholesale revocation of licenses at this critical time of insecurity in the country appears to be a decision taken without careful prior deliberation, consultation, or counsel.”
The NUJ believes that considering the economic hardship, the large-scale clampdown of broadcast stations was a disregard for the security issues and the attendant consequence and that the country just could not afford the unpleasant outcome of a media blackout during this period.
“We call on NBC to exercise more restraint on this issue in consideration of national security and allow for more dialogue and consultation to find a better way of dealing with the situation,” the union added.
