Court nullifies suspension of Daar communications Plc licence

ABUJA, Nigeria – A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has nullified the suspension of the broadcast licence of Daar Communications Plc. Daar communications is the operator of African Independent Television(AIT), Raypower and Faaji FM.

Raypower operates in 32 states with headquarters in Lagos, while AIT operates 32 terrestial stations in Nigeria, with headquarters in Abuja, with over 1000 staff.

Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court nullified the suspension of Daar Communications Plc just 24 hours after the National Broadcasting Commission(NBC) suspended its broadcast licence.

Advancing reasons for the suspension, NBC said Daar communications Plc is guilty of hate speech and that the station is generates content from the social media which NBC said is widely misleading. Addressing a press conference in Abuja, Managing Director of the NBC, Mallam Is’haq Modibbo Kawu said Daar Communications will remain shut until further notice.

He said the NBC has had several meetings with management of AIT in the quest to make the state stay within broadcast guidelines.
According to him, in October 18, 2018, the commission was disturbed with the manner in which social media issues became part of the mainstream media unedited on AIT/Raypower, and was constrained to issue a generic letter to all broadcast stations on
the need to exercise caution in the use of user generated content from the social media knowing how volatile and misleading the social media has become.

“The management of Daar Communication Plc thereafter took to the social media to display our official correspondences. Recently, the Commission’s monitoring reports on AIT/Raypower indicate the use of divisive comments accredited to the segment of “Kakaaki”, tagged, “Kakaaki Social”, where inciting comments like, “Nigeria is cursed, we declare independent state of Niger Delta”, “Nigeria irritates me”, “this country is gradually Islamizing” and other similar slogans are used without editorial control in breach of the broadcast Code. We were therefore constrained to issue Daar Communication letters of warning dated May 27th, 2019”, he said.

He said that instead of making amends, the management of Daar Communications Plc resorted to the use of media propaganda against the regulator.

“Even the letters from the NBC were posted on social media platforms… Today the 6th of June, 2019, AIT/Rapower embarked on use of inflammatory, divisive, inciting broadcasts, and media propaganda against the government and, the NBC for performing its statutory functions of regulating the broadcast industry in Nigeria.

“Consequently, after several meetings with management of Daar Communications Plc and many letters of warning. The NBC, today 6th June, 2019 took a decision to suspend the licence of Daar Communications Plc for failure to abide by the Commission’s directives, the provisions of the NBC Act Cap N11”, the NBC said.