FG grants 2-month licence fee waiver to broadcast stations

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says the Federal Government has granted a two-month licence fee waiver to terrestrial broadcast stations in the country to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the broadcast industry.

He said this in Abuja on Wednesday at a meeting with the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria.

He also inaugurated a 14-man committee to advise the government on the best way to mitigate the effect of the pandemic on the creative industry.

The committee, members were drawn from the different units of creative industry.

They are expected to assess the impact of the pandemic on the industry in general and advise the government on how to mitigate job and revenue losses in the sector as well as to create succour for the industry small businesses.

The minister said he had approved the request by the National Broadcasting Commission to grant the waiver as well as the distribution of protective equipment to some community broadcast stations across the nation.

He said: “I make bold to say that while BON members have been hit hard by the effects of the current pandemic, they are not alone.

“In fact, the entire creative industry, which also covers the Broadcast Industry, has been affected by the pandemic that has inflicted extensive damage on the economy of nations across the world.”