The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has temporarily suspended the shutdown notice it issued to media outlets that are indebted to the commission.
The Director-General of the commission, Balarabe Shehu Ilelah, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.
The commission had on Friday, August 19, 2022, revoked the licences to over 50 broadcasting stations, including DAAR Communications Ltd and Silverbird TV/Rhythm FM, and requested them to shut shutdown within hours.
But on Friday, Ilelah said the commission had received positive responses from the debtor licensees, including big players in the broadcast industry.
The statement reads in parts, “Sequel to a follow-up meeting held with Executives of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), 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.”
