ALP Review of the Amendment to the 6th Edition of the Nigerian Broadcasting Code: Effect of the Federal High Court Decision Nullifying the Amendment

Introduction

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) in 2020 released the amendment to the 6th Edition of the Nigerian Broadcasting Code (the “Code") (“the Amendment”). The Amendment, which sought to promote local content in the Nigerian broadcast industry, proscribe monopolistic and anti-competition practices and provide for increased advertising revenue for local broadcast stations and content producers, came under serious debate and criticism from business owners and operators in the broadcast industry. In our August 2020 article, we concluded that the Amendment, as drafted, was disincentivising to investors in the broadcast industry and majority of the provisions of the Amendment were outside the powers of the NBC and outside the realm of matters to be regulated upon in the Code. We then suggested that NBC should review the Amendment taking into account stakeholders and investors’ concerns. Two years later, in June 2022, the Federal High Court (FHC) sitting in Lagos nullified the Amendment.