The National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, has suspended the shut down of broadcast stations whose licences were revoked last week.
The commission announced the suspension in a statement dated August 26 and signed by its Director-General, Balarabe Shehu Ilehah.
Ilehah said following the ultimatum issued by the commission to the debtor broadcast stations to pay their debts on or before August 23 or risk closure, the commission received positive responses from the debtor licensees including the big players in the industry.
The commission added that it was suspending the shutdown of the defaulting stations across the country temporarily following a fruitful meeting it held with the Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria, BON and other critical stakeholders.
Ilehah expressed the commission’s profound gratitude to the Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria, BON, affected licensees and broadcast stakeholders for their intervention.
He specifically lauded DAAR Communications Limited and Silverbird Television/Rhythm FM for their responses.
The Director-General noted that the commission was not unaware of the difficulties the closure might have caused but submitted that it must operate within the ambit of the National Broadcasting Commission Act Cap No:11 Laws of the Federation.
Recall that the NBC on August 19 revoked licences of 52 broadcast stations across the country for owing about N2billion to the commission.
The affected broadcast stations are Imo Broadcasting Corporation, IBC; Cross River State Broadcasting Corporation, CRSBC and Rivers State Broadcasting Corporation, RSBC.
Other states whose broadcast stations are also affected are Kogi, Zamfara, Ondo, Katsina, Kaduna, Gombe, Kebbi, Kwara, Osun, Anambra, Borno, Bayelsa and Yobe.
Also affected are Silverbird Television network, Rhythm FM stations in Abuja, Lagos, Yenagoa, Port Harcourt, Jos and Benin-City; AIT/Ray Power FM network; Greetings FM network; Tao FM, Okene; Zuma FM, Suleja; Crowther FM, Abuja; WeFM Benin; Classic FM, Abuja and Lagos and ClassicTV Lagos.
The rest are Beat FM Lagos, Splash FM, Ibadan; Rock City FM, Abeokuta, Family FM Ilogun; Space FM, Ibadan, Radio Jeremi Effurum, Breeze FM, Vibes FM, Family Love FM, and Wave FM.
