The International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos-Nigeria decries the arbitrary approach of NBC in revoking the licenses of alleged debtor broadcast stations.
NBC announced the measure Nigerian today, Friday, August 19, 2022. A total of 52 stations (television and radio) are affected.
IPC holds that the sweeping revocation confirms its concern that NBC exercises its powers arbitrarily without recourse to the public interest.
It also confirms our worry that NBC continuously constitutes itself to the accuser, the prosecutor, and the judge in its case.
In this particular instance, NBC has not only ordered the revocation of licenses of many TV and Radio stations, but it has also gone further to usurp the authority of the President and Commander-In-Chief and the National Assembly by directing security agents to move in and affect its order.
IPC calls on NBC to exercise caution and ensure that it exhausts engagement channels before wielding a stick that may not only lead to thousands of job losses but also shrink the information dissemination space.
NBC should stop acting as a revenue-generating agency that is unconcerned about the business environment of broadcast stations.
Nothing in its mandate says that it cannot contribute to the sustainability of broadcast stations that are having their share of the economic crisis plaguing the Nation.
