Reactions as FG shuts down 52 broadcast stations

Media Rights Agenda (MRA), the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), and the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Friday denounced the National Broadcasting Commission’s (NBC) decision to shut down 52 broadcast stations nationwide due to a N2.6 billion debt.

African Independent Television (AIT)/Ray Power FM, Silverbird TV, and Rhythm FM are among the stations that are impacted.

Also suspended were Lagos State Broadcasting Corporation, Anambra State Broadcasting Corporation, Rivers State Broadcasting Corporation, Osun State Broadcasting Corporation, Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation, and Ondo State Broadcasting Corporation, among others.

Balarabe Shehu Ilelah, the director general of NBC, made the announcement of the cancellation yesterday in Abuja. He clarified that there was no political undertone to the decision, noting that the affected stations owed the commission N2.6 billion in license fees.

The impacted stations, he continued, had been operating illegally ever since their licenses had expired, and their behavior posed a risk to national security.

FG Revokes licenses of AIT, Silverbird, 50 other stations

Ilelah stated that all impacted media outlets must cease operations within the next 24 hours and said that the revocation would be postponed if the stations could settle their obligations in that time.

He said: “National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) published in the national dailies, the list of licences that are indebted to the Commission, and granted them two weeks to renew their licences and pay their debts or consider their licences revoked, frequencies withdrawn and the withdrawn frequencies reassigned to others who are ready to abide by the necessary requirements.

“Three months after the publication, some licensees are yet to pay their outstanding debts, in contravention of the National Broadcasting Commission Act CAP N11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, particularly Section 10(a) of the third schedule of the Act.

He said: “While we regret the inability of these broadcast stations to fulfil their obligations to NBC, in view of dwindling resources, we caution against such large scale clampdown on broadcast stations in disregard to security issues and the attendant consequence. We cannot afford the unpleasant outcome of such a media blackout at this time.

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.”