The Court of Appeal in Abuja has struck out an appeal by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) seeking to overturn a Federal High Court judgment restraining it from imposing fines on broadcast stations.
With the development, Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has again floored the NBC.
SolaceBase reports that this was disclosed in a statement signed by MRA’s Communications Officer, Idowu Adewale, on Wednesday.
It said the appellate court unanimously dismissed NBC’s appeal, describing the Commission’s Notice of Appeal as “fundamentally defective” and incompetent.
According to the statement, the lead judgment was delivered by Justice Jane Esienanwan Inyang, who raised concerns over discrepancies in the identity of the parties involved in the appeal.
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She noted that while the applicant before the Federal High Court was listed as the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda and the respondent as the National Broadcasting Commission, the appellant in the Notice of Appeal was described as the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission.
Justice Inyang held that the discrepancy was significant and constituted a fundamental defect affecting the competence of the appeal.
The statement said the defect deprived the Court of Appeal of the jurisdiction required to entertain the matter.
“The Notice of Appeal and the accompanying briefs are fundamentally defective and do not and cannot confer jurisdiction on this Court to hear and determine the appeal,” the judge ruled.
It further stated that because of the defective filing, there was “no appeal in fact and in law before this Court,” leading the court to strike out the appeal for incompetence.
The appeal stemmed from a judgment delivered on January 17, 2024, by Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court in a suit filed by MRA on September 2, 2022.
The suit challenged NBC’s decision to impose fines of N5 million each on a television station and three pay-TV platforms for allegedly undermining national security through documentaries on banditry and insecurity in Zamfara State.
In her ruling, Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia declared the fines imposed on Multichoice Nigeria Limited, owners of DSTV, TelCom Satellite Limited (TSTV), Trust-TV Network Limited and NTA Startimes Limited unlawful and unconstitutional.
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The court held that the sanctions violated the rights of MRA, its members and other Nigerians to freedom of expression, including the right to receive information without interference as guaranteed under Section 39 of the Constitution and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
At the hearing of the appeal on March 25, 2026, NBC was represented by Mr Bashir Ramoni of SimmonsCooper Partners, alongside Mr John Ojelabi and Ms Rosecarmel Odeh, while MRA was represented by Senior Partner at Joint Heirs Chambers, Mr Ezenwa Anumnu, who led Mr P.Y. Danladi.
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Justice Inyang emphasized that a competent Notice of Appeal is the foundation of any appeal and a prerequisite for the exercise of appellate jurisdiction.
She stressed that the appeal before the court was not initiated by the same legal entity that appeared before the Federal High Court.
The judge also maintained that jurisdiction cannot be conferred on a court through the consent, waiver, acquiescence or participation of parties in a case.
The latest judgment comes months after the same Court of Appeal, on April 2, 2026, dismissed another NBC appeal seeking to overturn an earlier ruling by Justice James Omotosho.
In that judgment, delivered on May 10, 2023, the court held that fines are criminal sanctions that can only be imposed by courts of law and not by regulatory agencies such as the NBC.
Justice Omotosho had also dismissed NBC’s motion to set aside the judgment on November 23, 2023.
