NBC suspends shutdown of indebted media organisations

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has temporarily suspended its planned shutdown of the indebted broadcast stations across the country.

Balarabe Ilelah, the director-general of the NBC, made the disclosure in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

Recall that NBC had on August 19 revoked the licences of the AIT/Ray Power FM (DAAR Communication Ltd., Silverbird TV Network and 50 other stations over N2.6 billion debts.

The commission ordered the affected stations to shut down within 24 hours and directed NBC offices nationwide to collaborate with the security agencies to ensure an immediate compliance with the directive.

Consequently, the commission, on August 20, extended the period in which all outstanding debts must be paid from 24 hours to Wednesday, August 24.

It explained that the extension of the enforcement date was due to an appeal by the affected broadcast stations, relevant stakeholders, public spirited individuals and organisations.

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However, the NBC boss said following the ultimatum, the commission received positive responses from the debtor licensees, including big players in the broadcast industry.

“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.

“We express our profound appreciation to the BON, the affected licensees and broadcast stakeholders for their responses and interventions. We specifically thank DAAR Communications Ltd., and Silverbird TV/Rhythm FM for their responses,” Ilelah said.

He noted that the commission was not unaware of the difficulties the shutdown would have caused the operators and other stakeholders.The D-G stated that the commission would always operate within the National Broadcasting Commission Act, Cap. N11, Laws of the Federation, 2004.