On June 17, 2026, the Court of Appeal in Abuja struck out another appeal filed by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) seeking to overturn a Federal High Court’s January 2024 ruling restraining it from imposing fines on broadcast stations.
The Court of Appeal, presided over by Justice Jane Esienanwan Inyang, ruled that the appeal was invalid because the notice of appeal mistakenly named the appellant as the “Nigerian Broadcasting Commission” instead of the correct name, “National Broadcasting Commission.” The court held that this error was serious enough to prevent it from hearing the appeal.
This is the second time the NBC’s challenge to the January 2024 judgment has failed. An earlier appeal was dismissed in April 2026. That original ruling, delivered by the Federal High Court, found that the Commission lacked the legal authority to impose monetary sanctions on broadcast stations and nullified a ₦5 million fine (about US$3,200) the NBC had imposed on four television stations in 2022 for airing documentaries on insecurity in Nigeria.
This follows an April 2026 ruling which dismissed a previous appeal by the NBC against a January 2024 judgement of the Federal High Court that held that the Commission lacked the legal authority to impose monetary sanctions on broadcast stations. The judgment also nullified a ₦5 million fine (about US$3,200) the NBC had imposed on four television stations in 2022 for airing documentaries on insecurity in Nigeria.
This is not the first time the courts have rejected the NBC’s attempts to fine broadcasters. In 2019, the NBC fined 45 television and radio stations ₦500,000 each (about US$1,390 then, US$330 now). The fine was challenged at the Federal High Court in 2021, and in May 2023, the court ruled that the NBC, not being a court of law, had no authority to impose fines. The NBC’s appeal against that decision was also dismissed.
In 2021, the NBC again fined Channels Television and Inspiration FM ₦5 million each (about US$12,406 then, US$3,200 now) over an alleged breach of Nigeria’s Broadcasting Code relating to unverified claims and unfair or unethical presentation. That fine, too, was rendered unlawful by the May 2023 ruling.
In 2022, the NBC fined four more television stations: Multichoice Nigeria (DStv/Startimes), TSTV, Trust TV, and NTA Startimes, ₦5 million each (about US$11,800 then, US$3,200 now) over documentaries on insecurity in Zamfara State, which the Commission accused of “glorifying bandits.”
That fine prompted two separate lawsuits, concluding in a January 17, 2024 judgment by the Federal High Court in Abuja. Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia ruled that the NBC had no legal power to fine broadcasters, cancelled the fines, nullified the Broadcasting Code provisions that had authorised them, and issued a perpetual injunction stopping the NBC from imposing fines on broadcasters going forward. It was this ruling the NBC sought to overturn in its April 2026 appeal, and again in the appeal the Court of Appeal dismissed this June.
The Media Foundation for West Africa welcomes the Court of Appeal’s June 2026 dismissal of the NBC’s appeal as a major press freedom victory, affirming that the NBC cannot unilaterally fine or punish broadcasters and that only courts have the authority to impose punitive sanctions. MFWA urges the government and the NBC to respect these rulings and adopt non-punitive, administrative regulatory approaches that protect and support a free and independent media in Nigeria and across West Africa.
