Appeal Court Upholds Ruling Restricting NBC from Fining Broadcasters 

By Opeyemi Adelakun

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has dismissed an appeal filed by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), thereby upholding a lower court judgment that restrained the regulator from imposing fines on broadcast stations.

Delivering the ruling, Justice Jane Esienanwan Inyang held that the appeal was incompetent and fundamentally defective, stressing that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain it due to procedural irregularities.

The case arose from a Federal High Court decision delivered by Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, which stopped the NBC from enforcing a ₦5 million fine imposed on several broadcast stations over alleged violations linked to documentaries on banditry and national security concerns.

The affected media organisations included MultiChoice Nigeria Limited (DSTV), TelCom Satellite Limited (TSTV), Trust-TV Network Limited, and NTA-StarTimes.

The suit was originally filed by Media Rights Agenda (MRA), which challenged the legality of the regulatory sanctions imposed by the NBC.

In its judgment, the appellate court noted a critical discrepancy in the appeal documents, observing that while the lower court properly identified the respondent as the National Broadcasting Commission, the notice of appeal incorrectly described the appellant as the “Nigerian Broadcasting Commission.”

The court held that such an error was not minor, but rather a fatal flaw that invalidated the appeal process. It further emphasized that a valid notice of appeal is a prerequisite for the court’s jurisdiction.

This is not the first time the NBC’s attempt to challenge the ruling has failed. In April 2026, the Court of Appeal had also dismissed a similar appeal against the same judgment, which had earlier established that the NBC lacked the legal authority to impose monetary penalties on broadcast stations.

The legal dispute traces back to a 2023 Federal High Court ruling which declared that the NBC does not possess judicial powers to levy fines on media organisations.

Earlier, in March 2019, the commission had sanctioned 45 broadcast stations for alleged ethical breaches during general elections, imposing fines of ₦500,000 each for violations of the broadcasting code.