The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has asked the Court of Appeal in Abuja for permission to refile its appeal against a Federal High Court judgment that barred it from imposing fines on broadcast stations.
The application follows the appellate court’s June 17, 2026 decision striking out the Commission’s earlier appeal on the grounds that the notice of appeal was “fundamentally defective.”
In a fresh application filed by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dapo Akinosun, the NBC is seeking an extension of time to appeal the judgment delivered by Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia in a suit instituted by Media Rights Agenda (MRA).
The Commission is also asking the Court of Appeal for leave to introduce a fresh issue challenging MRA’s legal capacity to institute and maintain the original suit.
The dispute dates back to 2022, when the NBC imposed ₦5 million fines on MultiChoice Nigeria Limited (DStv), TelCom Satellite Limited (TSTV), Trust-TV Network Limited and NTA Startimes Limited for airing documentaries on banditry and insecurity in Zamfara State. The regulator argued that the broadcasts undermined national security.
However, Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia ruled that the NBC acted unlawfully and unconstitutionally, holding that the Commission lacks the judicial authority to impose punitive fines. The court consequently restrained the regulator from sanctioning broadcast stations under the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.
The NBC’s bid to overturn the ruling suffered a setback on June 17 when a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Jane Inyang, struck out its appeal. The court held that identifying the appellant as the “Nigerian Broadcasting Commission” instead of the “National Broadcasting Commission” was a fundamental defect that deprived the court of jurisdiction.
In its latest application, the NBC described the error as an inadvertent mistake by its counsel, stressing that the original appeal had been filed within the prescribed time.
The Commission argued that the appeal raises issues of significant public interest and warned that allowing the High Court judgment to stand without appellate review would create regulatory uncertainty and undermine its statutory mandate.
According to the NBC, being stripped of its enforcement powers would weaken compliance with the broadcasting code, potentially leading to increased violations and the dissemination of false, misleading or unverified information capable of causing public anxiety and social unrest.
The Court of Appeal has yet to fix a date for hearing the application.
The latest application marks another chapter in the NBC’s ongoing legal battle over its sanctioning powers. In April 2026, the Court of Appeal dismissed a separate appeal filed by the Commission against a 2023 Federal High Court judgment that also barred it from imposing fines on broadcast stations.
