Stakeholders in the Nigerian broadcasting industry have called for amendments to the legislative and regulatory frameworks for broadcasting in order to strengthen the institutional independence and effectiveness of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC). The stakeholders stated that the NBC should be empowered to be the final authority for the issuance and revocation of broadcast licenses, with transparent administrative procedures and subject to judicial review.
This and other recommendations were made at the end of a two-day Stakeholders’ Summit on the Reform of the Broadcasting Legislative and Regulatory Framework in Nigeria held in Abuja on July 8 and 9, 2025. Participants at the summit included officials of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), broadcasters and broadcast administrators, representatives of civil society organisations, legal practitioners, media scholars and academics, and other experts.
The summit, which hosted both physical and virtual participants, featured six sessions, with panel discussions from participants across the board. The six sessions held at the summit were: The NBC Act Review Bills (Part 1); The NBC Act Review Bills (Part ll); Conversation on Memorandum on the Broadcasting Regulatory Framework (Part 1); Conversation on Memorandum on the Broadcasting Regulatory Framework (Part ll); Issues in the Transformation of State to Public Broadcasters (Part 1); and Issues in the Transformation of State to Public Broadcasters (Part ll).
The event, organised by the Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO) with funding support from the European Union under the EU-Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN), Component 4 – Support to Media, explored the theme “Advancing the Agenda of Broadcasting Reform to Re-energise Democracy”.
It began with a short opening ceremony, welcome remarks by the Executive Director of CEMESO, Dr Akin Akingbulu, and the Executive Director of the International Press Centre (IPC), Mr Lanre Arogundade, an EU-SDGN project partner.
The Summit also received goodwill messages from the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Mr Charles Ebuebu; the Director-General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Dr Mohammed Bulama; the President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mallam Alhassan Yahya; the Executive Secretary of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), Dr Yemisi Bamgbose; and the first National Vice-President of the Society of Nigerian Broadcasters (SNB), Mrs Christabel Iyanya.
Professor Umaru Pate, the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Kashere in Gombe State and a media scholar, presented expert reflections with some thoughts on salient issues awaiting reforms in the Nigerian Broadcasting Sector in a keynote address titled “Changing Dynamics in the Broadcasting Sector”.
As part of NBC’s institutional strengthening, they recommended that the appointment of the Board and the Director-General should be subject to confirmation by the Senate of the National Assembly to enhance the legitimacy and independence of the Commission, and that Board members and the Director-General may only be removed from office before the expiration of their terms for inability to discharge the functions of their respective offices as a result of infirmity of mind or body or for misconduct and upon confirmation by two-thirds majority of the members of the Senate.
The summit participants urged stakeholders to undertake sustained advocacy to ensure the passage of the Review Bills as well as an amendment of section 39 of the 1999 constitution to confer full powers on the NBC to grant broadcast licenses to deserving applicants, while in the interim, the President should be requested to delegate executive power to grant license to the Commission.
The stakeholders noted that there is a need to enhance procedural safeguards in the complaint’s resolution and sanctions processes of the NBC and suggested the establishment of an independent Broadcasting Tribunal, headed by a retired High Court judge, to adjudicate allegations of infractions of the NBC Act, the Nigeria Broadcasting Code and other relevant extant laws by broadcast stations.
The stakeholders expressed gratitude to CEMESO for organising the summit and to the European Union for providing funding support for the event and other media-development activities.
The full communique adopted at the end of the summit can be downloaded here.
