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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Aidoghie Paulinus and Adanna Nnamani, Abuja,
The African Independent Television (AIT) and Raypower FM have reached an agreement with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) regarding the revocation of their licences.
A source at DAAR Communications Plc, disclosed the development to Sunday Sun in Abuja.
A staff of the National Broadcasting Commission, who also confirmed the development, said some other affected broadcast stations had already paid their debts.
Recall that the NBC had on Friday, revoked the licenses of 52 broadcast stations, which included AIT, Ray Power FM, Silverbird TV and Rhythm FM.
The NBC also yesterday extended the enforcement of the revocation order on the affected broadcast stations from 24 hours to Wednesday August 23, 2022.
The Director-General of NBC, Balarabe Shehu Illelah, in a statement dated August 20, 2022, said: “This is to inform all the affected broadcast stations whose licenses were revoked and given 24 hours to pay all outstanding license fees that the National Broadcasting Commission has extended the period which all outstanding debts are to be paid from 24 hours to Wednesday August 23, 2022.
“All affected broadcast stations who fail to defray their debts on or before August 23, 2022, are directed to shut down by 12am on August 24, 2022.
“This extension is due to the appeal by the affected broadcast stations, relevant stakeholders, public spirited individuals and organizations,” Ilelah said.
Meanwhile, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has described the revocation of the licenses of the affected media houses as a deliberate attempt to deny Nigerians access to credible information, especially in the wake of the need for citizens’ education towards the 2023 general election.
It stressed that NBC’s action presented the risk of increased consumption of fake news as the countdown to the 2023 election continues and would furthermore contribute to unnecessarily heating up of the polity, especially as citizens are yearning for peaceful elections.
Noting that the timing of the revocation of the licenses was wrong, CISLAC Executive Director, Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani, in a statement stressed the need for amicable resolution of issue, warning that NBC’s action would cause job losses, leading to increase in social problems in the country.
The statement read in part: “In this critical time, the NBC as an agency of government, ran by tax-payers money should prioritize citizens’ need and quest for consumption of concrete news over revenue generation through sales of licenses and frequencies.
“The inherent danger in this untimely clampdown is the potential to escalate reliance on social media and some unscrupulous outlets as news sources among a great number of citizens.”
Rafsanjani added: “The news media industry serves a critical democratic function. They do this by informing audiences, facilitating debate and performing critical oversight.
“They are mostly privately owned businesses that need to maintain a certain profit level to continue to be in business. Like every other business in other sectors, the news media industry is also faced with the impact of COVID-19 and currently grappling with issues of dwindling revenues. One would expect that the NBC would factor some of these economic realities into its decision-making.
“While we do not encourage the failure of the affected media houses to renew their licenses, we strongly recommend for a dialogue with the NBC towards a review of the costs of license and frequency in Nigeria as it remains one of the highest in the ECOWAS sub-region.
“Parties should dialogue to review the rates in line with realities. Shutting down over 50 media houses in an electioneering period does not only deplete the efficiency of the media to perform its democratic functions, but is also detrimental to the quality of news that citizens can consume.
“The overall posture of the government of the day has also not been encouraging especially towards press freedom. Though the NBC has given reasons for the revocation on failure of the media houses to renew licenses, the timing suggests a furtherance of government’s attempts to gag the media and suppress press freedom in Nigeria.
“The issuance of threats to sanction media houses like Trust TV and the BBC in recent times for conducting investigative journalism and reporting such represents a lack of civility on the part of political appointees in Nigeria.
“Civil society will not fold its arm to watch reckless political appointees ridicule and derail the hard-earned gains of democracy in Nigeria. It is therefore important that government prioritizes appointments of technocrats to manage the affairs of critical sectors rather than appointing political party faithful who only have political allegiance.
“While we encourage a dialogue for review of the renewal costs in Nigeria and encourage the media houses to renew their licenses, we denounce very strongly, any politically motivated attempt to whittle down the critical influence of the media in Nigeria. We oppose completely the brazen threat of sanctions to local and foreign media houses, which are carrying out their legitimate functions. We condemn every action that contradicts freedom of the press in Nigeria.
CISLAC urged the NBC to prioritize citizens need for quality and concrete news sources towards the 2023 elections as a crucial step to minimize the spread of fake news, which have been seen to be capable of disrupting peaceful coexistence and peaceful conduct of elections by reviewing its decision through dialogue with the news media industry.
In the same vein the Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers Union of Nigeria (RATTAWU), condemned NBC’s decision describing the action as untimely and with grave consequences.
RATTAWU warned that shutting down the stations as the nation prepares for general elections by 2023 implies limiting the possibility of voter education and other electioneering activities, which portends great danger and disservice to the nation.
The union in statement issued by its General Secretary, Akpausoh Akpausoh at the weekend, further noted that the “broadcast media is crucial to keep the public informed especially at this moment when Nigerian is ravaged by insecurity.”
It cautioned that shutting down media stations would cause many people to lose their jobs, pushing more people into the already bloated unemployed market and its attendant consequences.
RATTAWU therefore, urged the NBC to arrange a stakeholders meeting where the issues would be discussed and addressed.
