Court endorses AIT/NBC out of court settlement terms
By Andrew Orolua, Abuja
Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja on Wednesday endorsed the out of court terms of settlement between the DAAR Communications Plc and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
This brings to an end the dispute that arose following the suspension of the operational licence of DAAR Communications Plc by the NBC over alleged breaches of the broadcast code by Raypower and African Independent Television (AIT).
Justice Ekwo adopted the seven- point term of settlement as consent judgment of the court, following the decision of parties which include the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture and the attorney general of the federation to resolve the matter out of court.
In the settlement terms, DAAR Communications Plc agreed to furnish the NBC with concrete proposal on the prompt payment of outstanding licence renewal fees for its national network broadcast licence.
The communication outfit also agreed to take necessary internal steps to ensure balance in its news coverage, especially political commentary on its stations across the country and shall also take full editorial responsibility for the use of content sourced from social media and any other outlet.
Similarly, the parties agreed that DAAR Communications Plc shall ensure that all programmes transmitted on its television and radio stations across the country comply with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the National Broadcasting Commission Act as well as the broadcast code.
On its part, the NBC agreed to immediately withdraw the suspension of the national licence of DAAR Communications Plc. Parties however, agreed to bear the cost of the legal action.
The terms of settlement was signed by the group managing director of DAAR Communications Plc while the director general, National Broadcasting Commission in the presence of Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) and Eseoghene Igbako, counsel to the plaintiff and NBC respectively.
It would be recalled that the NBC had early this month announced the suspension of the operational licence of DAAR Communications Plc over unresolved issues.
