Should Licenced Media Houses Continue to Pay Renewal Fees? Capital NO!

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By FRANK TIETIE

In fact, Nigerian media houses should have annual budgetary allocations to support them on account of their constitutional duty which is equal to that of the National Assembly. See section 22 of the Constitution.

That has been my call as a lawyer and activist since 2015. And I called on two National Presidents while they were in office to support that argument at that time. I was prepared and still am, to go to court to prove this point and only need the approval of the media house which I haven’t received yet.

I knew this evil day would come when renegade media houses would be refused licence renewals, even if they were not in arrears of fees.

A lot of undercurrents accounted for my unrestrained anger on my last appearance on Arise News Night, concerning the action of the NBC.

I thought I had exchanged activism for advocacy on account of age and health but when it touches on the media for which I have sacrificed much of my professional time, I will revert to my activist status, no matter what.

In 2016, as a media activist, I successfully used CASER to convince the National Judicial Council (NJC) to allow the live broadcast of court proceedings in Nigeria. Hon. Reyeineju from Delta State subsequently sponsored a bill at the House of Representatives in that pursuit, courtesy of our advocacy. Media owners for whom we have been fighting to expand and liberalize the frontiers of broadcasting in Nigeria have not identified with those causes. Now retirement from public interest pursuits beckons on me.

What else is life without arts and culture that are enriched by a liberal media broadcast space?

POSTSCRIPT:

*Why Nigerian Media Houses Should Not Pay Licence Renewal Fees? 2*
Can we make a distinction between licence renewal fees and taxes? Again, I am yet to find anyone who has juxtaposed the *constitutional duty* of the Nigerian media with the support it gets from the Nigerian state.

A duty goes with both responsibility and reward. Once licenced, the profit of media houses may be taxed but their existence by virtue of the Nigerian Constitution cannot be subject to payment of licence renewal fees.

Thus, new and intending media houses can be charged whatever fees at the point of registration and licensing and, for them to commence operation, they can only be given conditions that are within constitutional limits. Once those conditions are met, the already issued licences can no longer be withdrawn except for clear breaches of constitutional standards, such decision of which must be subject to determination by the Federal High Court at the instance of the regulator.

It is a constitutional violation to have prohibitive annual licence renewal fees which already licenced media houses find difficult to pay, to the point of being so highly indebted.

Frank Tietie
Abuja.

Frank Tietie is a Lawyer, Arise News Analyst and Executive Director, Citizens Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights – CASER.

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