The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has temporarily suspended its intention to shutdown indebted broadcast stations in the country.
The regulatory agency in a statement it issued on Friday, August 26, 2023, which was signed by the Director, Mr Balarabe Shehu Ilelah, said the commission decided to temporarily suspend the shutdown following positive responses from some of the affected stations and the intervention of critical stakeholders in the industry.
The statement which read in part said: “Sequel to a follow-up meeting held with Executives of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria, and other critical Stakeholders in the industry, the Commission has decided to temporarily suspend the shutdown of the indebted Broadcast stations all over the Country.
“We express our profound appreciation to the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, the affected licensees and Broadcast Stakeholders for their responses and interventions.
“The Commission is not unaware of the difficulties this shutdown must have caused the operators and other stakeholders but must state that the Commission will always operate within the National Broadcasting Commission Act, Cap. N11, Laws of the Federation, 2004.”
The NBC had on Friday, August 19, 2023, threatend to shutdown the 52 debtor broadcast stations, over the failure of the stations to renew the payment of their operational licenses amounting to N2.6B.
Some organizations including the Nigerian Guild of Editors, had already taken the commission to court over the threat.
