IBUKUNOLUWA KING-OKUNEYE
The National Broadcasting Commission has suspended the shutdown of the indebted broadcast stations all over the country temporarily.
It said that the decision to suspend its initial shutdown of the indebted stations followed the responses received from the affected stations.
The NBC Director General, Balarabe Shehu Ilelah, revealed the suspension in a statement on Friday.
Last Friday, NBC directed 52 broadcast outfits, including the African Independent Television, Silverbird Television and broadcasting corporations run by various state governments to shut down their operations.
NBC said this was due to debts incurred by the broadcasting organisations amounting to at least N2.6 billion.
The development saw NBC criticised by many Nigerians, some claiming that the decision to ban the station was targeted at stifling the media in the country.
However, in a statement on Friday, Ilelah disclosed that positive responses received from the debtor licensees, including big players in the broadcast industry, was responsible for the temporary suspension.
The statement read, “Sequel to a follow-up meeting held with Executives of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria, 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 Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, 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.
“The Commission is not unaware of the difficulties this shutdown must have caused the operators and other stakeholders but must state that the Commission will always operate within the National Broadcasting Commission Act, Cap. N11, Laws of the Federation, 2004.”