The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) says it will establish an independent tribunal, made up of retired judges and other impartial officials, to hear broadcast violation cases, even as it moves to appeal a court judgment restricting its power to impose financial sanctions on erring stations.
Director-General Charles Ebuebu told the News Agency of Nigeria in an exclusive interview on Sunday in Abuja that the courts had not barred NBC from sanctioning broadcasters outright, but had objected to the commission acting as both judge and jury in its own cases.
He said the ruling specifically targeted financial sanctions, which courts have treated as akin to criminal penalties requiring an independent adjudicatory process — an interpretation NBC disputes, arguing administrative fines are distinct from criminal ones.
The proposed tribunal, Ebuebu said, would sit within the regulatory framework but operate independently of NBC, similar to the Federal Road Safety Commission’s mobile court system for traffic offenders. He warned that stripping NBC of sanctioning powers altogether could push the commission toward harsher measures, such as licence withdrawal, in the absence of a graduated penalty process.
The dispute traces back to a May 2023 Federal High Court ruling, in a case brought by the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda, that NBC lacked power to unilaterally impose fines without judicial process.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja affirmed that judgment on April 2, 2026, dismissing NBC’s appeal and upholding the nullification of fines already imposed on affected broadcasters.
