MultiChoice Nigeria’s Bid to Halt NBC’s Financial Investigation Fails in Court
MultiChoice Nigeria’s Bid to Halt NBC’s Financial Investigation Fails in Court: A Federal High Court in Abuja
has rejected an application by MultiChoice Nigeria Ltd, seeking an interim order to stop the National Broadcasting
Commission (NBC) from requesting financial, accounting, or tax documents from them. Justice James Omotosho,
in a ruling on the ex-parte motion, instead directed all parties to avoid taking any steps that could render the suit unnecessary.
The ruling, delivered on Wednesday, was made available on Friday.
MultiChoice Nigeria Limited and Details Nigeria Limited, providers of the subscription-based digital terrestrial television service,
GOtv, had sued NBC as the sole respondent. They sought three reliefs, including an order of interim injunction to restrain
NBC from investigating their annual income or NBC levy for the years between 2014 and 2024. They also sought to restrain
NBC from requesting financial, accounting, or tax documents beyond the annual audited accounts already submitted. Additionally,
they prayed for an order to restrain NBC from sanctioning, fining, or suspending their license pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
the affidavit
In the affidavit, the companies’ Head of Compliance, Gozie Onumonu, stated that they had never defaulted in paying their annual levy to NBC.
He explained that the current NBC Code requires 2.5% of a broadcaster’s income to be paid as annual NBC levy, while the previous code required 1.5%.
He claimed that there was a dispute in 2014 over whether income should be turnover or revenue minus cost of production,
which was resolved by agreeing to use revenue minus cost of production. However, this resulted in a negligible amount due to
NBC as annual levy between 2014 and 2019. NBC then requested a fixed sum of N500 million as annual levy, which was far more
than what the companies were supposed to pay.
Onumonu stated that the companies had already submitted their audited accounts to NBC and paid over N12 billion as annual levy
from 2014 to date. He described NBC’s action as an abuse of power and urged the court to grant their plea in the interest of justice.
The matter was adjourned until May 30 for a hearing of the motion on notice.