Appeal Court Upholds Broadcast Fine Ban, NBC’s Appeal Struck Out on Jurisdictional Grounds
The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has suffered a significant legal setback as the Court of Appeal in Abuja struck out its appeal, thereby affirming a Federal High Court judgment that prohibits the commission from imposing fines on broadcast stations. This ruling reinforces the Media Rights Agenda’s (MRA) legal victory against the broadcast regulator in an ongoing dispute concerning the legality of administrative sanctions against media organisations.
In a decisive judgment delivered by Justice Jane Esienanwan Inyang, the appellate court declared the NBC’s appeal incompetent and fundamentally defective. As reported by Platform Times on June 17, 2026, the court found that the Notice of Appeal failed to properly invoke its jurisdiction due to fatal inconsistencies in the appellant’s identity. This defect, the court held, was not a mere technicality but a fundamental flaw that invalidated the entire appeal.
The core of the appellate court’s decision rested on the discrepancy between the appellant identified in the original Federal High Court suit and the one presented before the Court of Appeal. While the initial case was filed against the National Broadcasting Commission, the Notice of Appeal erroneously named the appellant as the “Nigerian Broadcasting Commission.” Justice Inyang stated, “The Notice of Appeal and accompanying processes are fundamentally defective and cannot confer jurisdiction on this court,” concluding that “there is no competent appeal before the court.” Consequently, the appeal was struck out in its entirety.
This judgment stems from a January 17, 2024, ruling by the Federal High Court in Abuja, which had previously nullified fines levied by the NBC against several broadcast organisations, including Multichoice Nigeria Limited (DSTV), TelCom Satellite Limited (TSTV), Trust-TV Network Limited, and NTA-Startimes. The lower court had determined that the NBC acted outside its statutory powers by imposing monetary penalties, characterising such sanctions as criminal punishments that fall exclusively within the purview of a court of law. Furthermore, the Federal High Court had ruled that these fines contravened constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression under Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution, as well as protections afforded by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The Court of Appeal’s ruling emphatically reiterated the principle that jurisdiction is paramount and cannot be conferred through consent, waiver, or the participation of parties. The appellate court underscored the critical importance of a valid Notice of Appeal as the foundational document for any appellate process, without which a court cannot validly assume jurisdiction. This latest judgment represents a significant blow to the NBC’s efforts to assert its authority to sanction broadcast stations through financial penalties, with profound implications for broadcast media regulation, compliance strategies for media houses, and the legal framework governing administrative sanctions in Nigeria. The NBC was represented by counsel from SimmonsCooper Partners, while Media Rights Agenda was represented by a legal team led by Senior Partner Ezenwa Anumnu.
