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Media rights group sues NBC over N9m fine on TV stations

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NBC fines Arise TV, Channels, AIT N9m over coverage of EndSARS protests

The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) on Monday dragged the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to court for imposing a N3 million fine each on three television stations over the coverage of #EndSARS protests in the country.

The commission had last month directed Arise TV, Channels TV, and African Independent Television (AIT) to pay the fine for allegedly failing to observe broadcasting rules in their coverage of #EndSARS protests.

In a lawsuit filed at the Federal High Court, Ibadan, Oyo State, MRA is challenging the powers of the NBC to impose fines on broadcasting stations when it is not a judicial body.

Read also: NBC fines Arise TV, Channels, AIT N9m over coverage of EndSARS protests

The group urged the court to declare the fine on the three television stations as unlawful and set the fines aside.

It also asked the court to declare the fine as null and void and issue a perpetual injunction restraining the commission from imposing sanctions or fines or other unlawful or unconstitutional restrictions on television and radio stations in Nigeria.

The suit was filed on behalf of MRA by an Ibadan-based lawyer, Mr. Boluwatife Sanya, and brought under the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009; Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended; and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, as preserved by the Ratification and Enforcement Act (Cap A9), Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

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