The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, on Friday, refused to grant an application filed by MultiChoice Nigeria Ltd, seeking an interim order restraining the National Broadcasting Commission, (NBC), from requesting any financial, accounting, or tax documents from them.
Justice James Omotosho, in a ruling on the ex-parte Motion moved by the applicants counsel, Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), directed all parties not to take any step that could make the suits outcome nugatory. Although the ruling was delivered on Wednesday.
The ex-parte order for interim injunction dated May 8, 2024 and filed 16th day of May 16, is hereby refused, he declared.
Justice Omotosho then adjourned the matter until May 30 for a hearing of the Motion on Notice.
MultiChoice Nigeria Ltd and Details Nigeria Ltd, providers of the subscription-based digital terrestrial television service GOtv, are the first and second applicants, respectively.
In the ex-parte motion, they sued NBC as the sole respondent.
The applicants sought three reliefs, including an order of interim injunction restraining NBC from investigating the companies to determine their annual income or NBC levy for the years between 2014 and 2024 pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice.
They sought an Order of Interim Injunction restraining NBC from requesting, demanding, or receiving any financial, accounting, or tax documents from the companies other than the annual audited accounts of the companies already submitted to the Commission.
They said this was in pursuant to section 2 (10) (b) of the NBC Code 6th Edition for the purposes of determining her remittance of NBC levy for the 2014 to 2024 years of account pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
They equally prayed an order of interim injunction restraining the commission from sanctioning, fining or suspending the companies license pursuant to the threats in its letter dated April 29 to them, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
In the affidavit deposed to by the companies Head of Compliance, Gozie Onumonu, he averred that the firms were mandated under the various NBC codes to pay a certain percentage of their income as an annual NBC levy to the respondent.
According to him, the current code, NBC Code 6th Edition, provides for 2.5 per cent of a broadcasters income to be paid to the respondent yearly as an annual NBC levy, while the former code, which was amended in 2019, provides for 1.5% of a broadcasters income, to be paid to the defendant yearly as an annual levy.
He claimed that the companies had never defaulted in paying their annual levy to the Commission.
Onumonu, who said the companies had already submitted a certified true copy of their audited account for the previous year(s) to NBC, said the Commission was paid over N12 billion as annual levy from 2014 to date.
The officer described NBCs action as an abuse of power, urging the court to grant their plea in the interest of justice.
