Court stops Buhari, NBC from shutting down 53 broadcast stations

A Federal High Court in Lagos has stopped President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) from revoking the licenses and shutting down 53 broadcast stations for allegedly failing to renew their licenses.

 Justice Akintayo Aluko, yesterday, granted an order of interim injunction following the hearing of an argument on motion exparte by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE).

• 22-year-old arrested for abducting teenager in Lagos
• NIGERIA DAILY: The Impact Of Shekarau’s Defection From NNPP to PDP

 The duo had last week filed a lawsuit against Buhari and NBC, asking the court for “a declaration that Section 10(a) of the Third Schedule to the NBC Act used by NBC to threaten to revoke the licenses of 53 broadcast stations and to shut down the stations is unconstitutional and unlawful, as it violates freedom of expression.”

 The plaintiffs also sought “an order of interim injunction restraining Buhari and NBC, and their agents, from revoking the licenses of 53 broadcast stations in the country and shutting down their operations, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed contemporaneously in this suit.”

 The suit has been adjourned till September 8 for the hearing of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.