Civil society organisations — Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) — have taken President Muhammadu Buhari to court over the N5 million fine imposed on Channels Television for an interview with Datti Baba-Ahmed, vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP).
The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, are joined in the lawsuit. In a tweet yesterday, SERAP said: “We’ve sued the Buhari administration and NBC over the arbitrary, illegal and unconstitutional N5 million fine imposed on Channels TV following a recent interview with the Labour Party vice-presidential candidate. We filed the suit jointly with CJID.”
NBC had last week fined Channels Television over an interview with Baba-Ahmed who alleged that Bola Tinubu, the President-elect did not meet the constitutional requirements to be sworn in, a broadcast the commission argued violated some sections of its code.
In the suit marked FHC/L/CS/616/2023 and filed last week before a federal high court sitting in Lagos, the petitioners asked the court to determine whether the NBC code used is not inconsistent and incompatible with access to information and media freedom.
Kolawole Oluwadare, Andrew Nwankwo, and Blessing Ogwuche, the counsel to the plaintiffs prayed the court to declare the fine “arbitrary, illegal and unconstitutional.”
Further, SERAP and CJID sought an order setting aside the fine for being inconsistent and incompatible with sections 22, 36 and 39 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution [as amended], Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The organisations also requested an order directing and compelling NBC to reverse the N5 million imposed on the broadcast station.
“The media has the task of distributing all varieties of information and opinion on matters of general interest and public interest. Under the Nigerian Constitution and human rights treaties to which Nigeria is a state party, freedom and diversity must be guiding principles in the regulation of broadcasting. The fine of N5m imposed on Channels TV is entirely inconsistent and incompatible with these principles.
“Although article 19(3) recognises ‘national security’ as a legitimate aim, the Human Rights Committee has stressed ‘the need to ensure that the invocation of national security is not used unjustifiably or arbitrarily to restrict freedom of expression and media freedom,” they said.
“The use of NBC Act and Code, in this case, would inadmissibly open the door to arbitrariness and would fundamentally restrict the freedom of expression that is an integral part of the public order protected by the Nigerian Constitution and human rights treaties to which Nigeria is a state party.
“The fine is arbitrary and unlawful and would have a disproportionate and chilling effect on the work of other broadcast stations, journalists, and Nigerians,” the organisations argued.
