NBC suspends shutdown notice of media houses

The Director-General, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Balarabe Shehu Ilelah has said the Commission has temporarily suspended the shutdown notice it issued to media outlets that are indebted to the commission.

The commission had on August 19, 2022, revoked the licences to over 50 broadcasting stations, including DAAR Communications Ltd and Silverbird TV/Rhythm FM, and requested them to shut down within hours.

In a fresh statement issued on Friday, Ilelah, however, said the commission had received positive responses from the debtor licensees, including big players in the broadcast industry

He added that sequel to a follow-up meeting held with Executives of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), 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.

While expressing the Commission’s profound appreciation to the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, Ilelah thanked the affected licensees and broadcast stakeholders for their responses and interventions.

He said 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.