The Federal High Court in Abuja has invalidated Section 2(10)(b) of the National Broadcasting Code, 6th Edition, which mandated broadcasters to pay 2.5% of their gross annual income as an Annual Operating Levy.
This ruling came after a suit by MultiChoice Nigeria Ltd and Details Nigeria Ltd (GO TV) against the National Broadcasting Commission.
Justice James Omotosho, in his judgment on Wednesday, ordered that Section 2(10)(b) of the National Broadcasting Code be amended to require broadcasters to pay the Annual Operating Levy based on their “Net Annual Income” instead of “Gross Annual Income.”
The court further barred the NBC from requesting VAT remittance, FIRS reports, bank statements, audit adjustment journals, trial balances, or general ledgers from the plaintiffs to compute their annual income.
Instead, the NBC is restricted to relying solely on the companies’ annual audited accounts as stipulated in the NBC Code.
The judge clarified that the NBC can only access MultiChoice’s other financial documents through sister agencies like the FIRS, not directly from the company.
In suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/652/2024, the plaintiffs’ counsel, Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN, sought several reliefs, including a determination of the NBC’s authority to demand financial documents beyond the annual audited accounts.
He also requested clarification on whether the term “gross annual income” in the NBC Code was fair and equitable.
“Income, as provided by the NBC Code 6th Edition, is not defined, nor is it defined in any previous editions or in the NBC Act of 2004,” the counsel submitted in court.
Onigbanjo also requested the court to determine whether the agreement between the plaintiffs and the NBC, to pay a flat rate of N800,000,000 as the Annual Operating Levy for the years 2020–2023 (and certain previous years), was binding on both parties.
