The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Bola Tinubu to direct the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Malagi, and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately withdraw what it describes as an “unlawful” formal notice issued by the NBC last week. The notice threatens broadcast stations and presenters with sanctions based on vague and unjustified grounds, including the expression of “personal opinions,” alleged bullying or intimidation of guests, and failure to maintain neutrality.
In a letter dated April 18, 2026, and signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP urged President Tinubu to instruct the minister and the NBC to refrain from imposing any form of prior censorship on broadcast stations and Nigerian journalists, including presenters. The organisation stressed that media professionals should be allowed to freely carry out their constitutional responsibilities and exercise their fundamental human rights.
SERAP further called on the President to direct the NBC to urgently prepare amendments to the unlawful sections of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code that the commission has relied on, and to ensure that those provisions fully comply with the Nigerian Constitution (1999, as amended) and the country’s international human rights obligations.
The appeal follows a notice issued by the NBC on April 17, 2026, which cited a rise in breaches of the 6th Edition of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code in news, current affairs, and political programming. The commission threatened to enforce strict compliance and impose sanctions for Class B breaches.
SERAP described the NBC’s notice as “a dangerous attempt to impose prior censorship on the media and suppress legitimate journalistic expression.” The organisation warned that, ahead of the 2027 general elections, the notice undermines Nigerians’ democratic rights to receive diverse information, hear competing political viewpoints, and engage in open debate.
“The Nigerian Constitution and international human rights law protect both the absolute right to hold opinions and the qualified right to express ideas of all kinds. Journalistic opinion is protected expression,” SERAP said. “Value judgments are not susceptible to proof and enjoy heightened protection. Journalism necessarily includes analysis and commentary.”
The letter specifically condemned Section 1.10.3 of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, which prohibits presenters from expressing opinions. SERAP argued that this amounts to “prior restraint that impermissibly excludes commentary, analysis, and value judgments—the core of journalism and democratic discourse.”
“Such a blanket restriction fails the legal tests of legality, necessity and proportionality required in a democratic society,” the organisation added. It also noted that the NBC’s reliance on multiple vague provisions to classify a wide range of presenter conduct as “Class B breaches” contravenes both the Nigerian Constitution and international human rights law.
Citing Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution, Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, SERAP emphasised that the right to impart ideas “necessarily includes opinions, commentary, and analysis.” The group stressed that journalists are entitled to express their opinions as part of professional practice, especially commentary and analytical expression, which lie “at the very core of journalistic practice and democratic discourse.”
SERAP dismissed the NBC’s claim of a “crisis of anchor and presenter professionalism” as legally insufficient to justify restricting freedom of expression. “Any limitation on rights must be reasonably justifiable in a democratic society,” the letter read. “Vague and unsubstantiated claims of declining professionalism do not meet this threshold.”
While acknowledging that preventing the misuse of broadcast platforms by political actors is a legitimate concern, SERAP argued that this “does not justify sweeping or repressive regulatory measures that infringe on fundamental human rights.”
The organisation gave the government 48 hours to act on its recommendations, warning: “If we have not heard from your government and the NBC by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel compliance with our request in the public interest.”