The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development have filed a lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari asking the court to “declare arbitrary and illegal, the N5 million imposed on Trust Television, Multichoice Nigeria Limited, Nigerian Television Authority, Startimes Limited and others over their documentaries on terrorism in the country.”
Joined in the suit as Defendants are the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, and the National Broadcasting Commission.
The NBC had last week imposed the fines on the media houses claiming that their documentaries “glorified the activities of bandits and undermines national security in Nigeria,” and also contravene the provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.
According to the plaintiffs: “The NBC and the minister of information have not shown that the documentaries by the media houses would impose a specific risk of harm to a legitimate state interest that outweighs the public interest in the information provided by the documentaries.”
The plaintiffs said: “The documentaries by these independent media houses pose no risk to any definite interest in national security or public order.”
According to the plaintiffs, the action by the NBC and Mohammed is arbitrary, illegal, and unconstitutional, as it is contrary to section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution, and international human rights treaties including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which Nigeria has ratified.
“Imposing any fine whatsoever without due process of law is arbitrary, as it contravenes the principles of nemo judex in causa sua which literally means one cannot be a judge in his own cause and audi alteram partem which means no one should be condemned unheard.”
“The grounds for imposing fines on these independent media houses fail to meet the requirements of legality, necessity, and proportionality.”
“The requirement of necessity also implies an assessment of the proportionality of the grounds, with the aim of ensuring that the excuse of ‘glorifying terrorism and banditry’ and ‘national security’ are not used as a pretext to unduly intrude upon the rights to freedom of expression and access to information.”
However, no date has been fixed yet for the hearing.
