Socio-economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) have sued President Muhammadu Buhari and two others at the Federal High Court, Lagos, over alleged unlawful fines imposed on Trust TV, MultiChoice Nigeria Limited, NTA-Startimes Limited and Telcom Satellite Limited, following their broadcast of documentaries on terrorism.
No date has been fixed for hearing of the suit.
Joined in the suit, as defendants, are Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
The NBC had, last week, imposed fines on the media houses, claiming the documentaries glorified the activities of bandits, undermine national security and contravene provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.
But in the suit, number: FHC/L/CS/1486/2022, filed last Friday, SERAP and CJID are seeking an order setting aside “the arbitrary and illegal fines” of N5 million and any other penal sanction unilaterally imposed by NBC on the media houses for carrying out their constitutional duties.
They want the court to declare that the act of the defendants imposing a fine of N5 million each on the media houses is unlawful, inconsistent with, and amounts to a breach of the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality and, therefore, a violation of the rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom.
They also want the court to declare that the use of the Broadcasting Code by NBC to impose sanctions on the media houses for the alleged infractions, without recourse to the court, constitutes an infringement of the provisions of Sections 6[1] and [6][b] and 36[1] of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 and Articles 1 and 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Nigeria is a state party.
ALSO, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) demanded immediate withdrawal of the fine slammed on the media organisations.
CDD’s Director, Idayat Hassan, in a statement, at the weekend in Abuja, described the fine as obnoxious, oppressive and suppressive.
The rights body argued that the punitive measure is a reprehensible attempt to gag the media and infringe on citizens’ rights to free speech and information.
It noted: “We condemn, in the strongest terms, the imposition of the fine on Trust Television and other media outlets by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
“We are particularly alarmed at the speed with which it took action without giving the affected media outlets time to respond and defend themselves.
“As the partner who supported Trust TV in producing the documentary, we unapologetically emphasise that the documentary was done and aired in the public interest. The documentary was based on years of field research, representing all affected communities and proffered pathways to ending the conflict.
“The calibre of persons featured in the documentary and those who attended the screenings, followed by a panel discussion, only speaks to our genuine interest in finding solutions to the conflict.
“As the country approaches the 2023 general elections, we urge the Federal Government to avoid doing anything that will threaten the media landscape or infringe on citizens’ right to free speech and the right to know.”
“We are shocked to see how the National Broadcasting Commission violated its procedures by not giving the affected media organisations the right to a fair hearing, and acting without receiving any written complaints from anybody as required by its law.”
