The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) on Friday announced the revocation of licenses of 52 broadcast stations across the country over their indebtedness to the regulatory commission.
The director general of the NBC, Mr. Balarabe Shehu said in a statement that the licences were revoked over failure of the stations to renew their broadcast licences which stands at N2.6 billion.
He directed its state offices to liaise with security agencies to ensure the shutdown of the operations of the affected stations within the next 24 hours.
The debtor-stations include Africa Independent Television (AIT) and its sister radio station, Raypower FM; Silverbird Television, Rhythm FM (Silverbird Communications Ltd), Greetings FM (Greetings Media Ltd), Tao FM (Ovidi Communications Ltd), Zuma FM (Zuma FM Ltd), Crowther FM (Crowther Communications Ltd), WE FM (Kings Broadcasting Ltd), Linksman International ltd, Bomay Broadcasting Services Ltd, MITV (Murhi International Group Ltd).
Others are Classic FM (Pinkt Nigeria Ltd), Classic FM (Pinkt Nigeria Ltd), Classic TV (Pinkt Nigeria Ltd), Beat FM (Megalectrics LTD), Cooper Communications Ltd, Splash FM (West Midlands Ltd), Rock City FM (Boot Communications Ltd), Family FM (Kalaks Investments Nig. Ltd), Space FM (Creazioni Nig. Ltd), Radio Jeremi (Radio Jeremi ltd), Wave FM (South Atlantic Media Ltd), Kogi State Broadcasting Corporation, Kwara State Broadcasting Corporation, Niger State Broadcasting Corporation, Breeze FM (Bays Water ltd),Vibes FM (Vibes Communication ltd) and Family Love FM (Multimesh Broadcasting Co. ltd).
The rest are Gombe State Broadcasting Corporation, Lagos State Broadcasting Corporation, Osun State Broadcasting Corporation, Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation, Ondo State Broadcasting Corporation, Rivers State Broadcasting Corporation, Bayelsa State Broadcasting Corporation, Cross River State Broadcasting Corporation, Imo State Broadcasting Corporation, Anambra State Broadcasting Corporation, Borno State Broadcasting Corporation, Yobe State Broadcasting Corporation, Sokoto State Broadcasting Corporation, Zamfara State Broadcasting Corporation, Kebbi State Broadcasting Corporation, Jigawa State Broadcasting Corporation, Kaduna State Broadcasting Corporation, and Katsina State Broadcasting Corporation.
The director general said there was no political undertone in revoking the licences of the debtor-broadcast stations.
He said the move followed the publication of a list of stations yet to renew their licences.
According to the Commission, a two-week waiver was given to them in May to do so after which they risked the revocation of their broadcast licences.
But three months after the publication, NBC said, “some licensees are yet to pay their outstanding debts, in contravention of the National Broadcasting Commission Act CAP N11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, particularly section 10(a) of the third schedule of the Act.
In view of this development, he said the continued operation of the debtor-stations is illegal and constitutes a threat to national security.
“Therefore, after due consideration, the NBC hereby announces the revocation of the licenses of the under-listed stations and gives them 24 hours to shut down their operations. Our offices nationwide are hereby directed to collaborate with security agencies to ensure immediate compliance,” the director general said.
Speaking further, Shehu said all broadcast stations that have not renewed their licenses for the current duration are advised to do so within the next 30 days to avoid sanctions.
“The commission also call on all IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) and all other broadcast stations that are streaming online to register with the Commission to avoid disconnection.
“Broadcasters should note that having a DTT or FM license does not warrant a broadcaster to stream online; they are two different licenses,” he noted.
He added that they had been in talks with the media houses for more than one year but regretted that they refused to revert.
