The Court of Appeal in Abuja has struck out the National Broadcasting Commission’s (NBC) latest attempt to overturn a Federal High Court judgment restraining it from imposing fines on radio and television stations, handing the broadcast regulator another significant judicial defeat.
In a unanimous judgment delivered on Wednesday, the appellate court ruled that the NBC’s appeal was fundamentally defective and incompetent, holding that it lacked the legal foundation required for the court to exercise jurisdiction.
Justice Jane Inyang, who delivered the lead judgment, identified a fatal discrepancy in the identity of the appellant. While the original suit at the Federal High Court was between the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda and the National Broadcasting Commission, the notice of appeal was filed in the name of the “Nigerian Broadcasting Commission” – an entirely different legal entity.
According to the court, the inconsistency rendered the appeal incurably defective.
“The notice of appeal and the accompanying briefs are fundamentally defective and do not and cannot confer jurisdiction on this court to hear and determine the appeal,” Justice Inyang ruled.
The court stressed that a valid notice of appeal is the bedrock of appellate proceedings and a mandatory condition for invoking its jurisdiction. It consequently held that there was “no appeal in fact and in law” before it and struck out the case for incompetence.
The appeal arose from the January 17, 2024 judgment of Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court, who held that the NBC acted unlawfully and unconstitutionally by imposing N5 million fines on MultiChoice Nigeria Limited (DStv), TelCom Satellite Limited (TStv), Trust TV Network Limited and NTA StarTimes Limited over documentaries on banditry and insecurity in Zamfara State.
The commission had argued that the broadcasts threatened national security, but the trial court ruled that the sanctions violated the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression under Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which protects the right to receive and disseminate information without undue interference.
Wednesday’s verdict marks yet another courtroom setback for the NBC in its prolonged legal battle over its sanctioning powers.
In April 2026, the Court of Appeal also dismissed another appeal filed by the commission against the May 10, 2023 judgment of Justice James Omotosho, which held that monetary fines are criminal sanctions that can only be imposed by a court of law and not by an administrative agency. The appellate court had earlier rejected the NBC’s attempt to set aside that judgment in November 2023.
The latest decision further entrenches judicial limits on the NBC’s authority, reinforcing the position that broadcast organisations cannot be subjected to monetary penalties by the regulator without due judicial process.