The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has suspended the shutdown of indebted broadcast stations in the country.
The Director-General of the NBC, Balarabe Ilelah, had on August 19 directed the African Independent Television, Silverbird Television and over 40 other electronic media outfits, including the broadcasting corporations run by various state governments, to shut down their operations within 24 hours over debts amounting to N2.6bn.
Ilelah had noted that some of the affected stations had not renewed their licences since 2015 and warned them to do so in 30 days to avoid sanction.
But the decision attracted a backlash from stakeholders in the industry and other organisations, including the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Guild of Editors and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, which reportedly instituted a suit against the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and the NBC over the alleged arbitrary use of the NBC Act and broadcasting code to threaten, revoke, and shut down broadcast stations in the country.
But the NBC, in a statement titled, “Temporary Suspension” and signed by the DG on Friday, said it suspended the shutdown following the positive responses it received from the debtor licensees.
“Sequel to a follow-up meeting held with executives of the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria and other critical stakeholders in the industry, the commission has decided to temporarily suspend the shutdown of the indebted broadcast stations all over the country,” it said.
While commending relevant stakeholders for their responses, the commission, however, stated that it would always act in line with extant laws.
It added, “We express our profound appreciation to the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, the affected licensees and broadcast stakeholders in the industry for their responses and interventions. We specifically thank Daar Communications Ltd and Silverbird TV/Rhythm FM for their responses.
“The commission is not unaware of the difficulties this shutdown must have caused the operators and other stakeholders but must state that the commission will always operate with the National Broadcasting Commission Act, Cap N11, Laws of the Federation, 2004.”
