By The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has suspended the shutdown of over 50 indebted broadcast stations in the country.
Recall that on August 19, the agency ordered 52 broadcast stations including the African Independent Television, Silverbird Television, to shut down their operations over a debt amounting to N2.6bn.
However, in a statement on Friday, the NBC Director General, Balarabe Shehu Ilelah, announced a temporary suspension of the initial shutdown.
Ilelah disclosed that the decision followed by the responses received from the affected stations as well as the intervention from stakeholders in the broadcast industry.
“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,” the statement read.
“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.”
