The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) said it has sanctioned 302 stations in the last four months.
It also announced the approval of 67 licenses for new broadcast stations. NBC Director-General, Malam Balarabe Shehu Ilelah, stated these to reporters in Abuja.
Balarabe said from September 28, 2022 to January 31, 2023, out of the 740 current functional stations, 302 have been sanctioned by the commission for various offences.
According to the breakdown, 17 broadcast stations were fined for contravening the broadcast codes, 196 stations received warnings, 93 were reprimanded while 67 were cautioned.
On the newly approved licenses, Ilelah said the approval brings to 473 the number of licenses issued under President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said the latest approval “is a great milestone in furthering pluralism and freedom of expression.”
He also announced the number of functional broadcast stations in Nigeria has risen to 740 with Buhari approving 210 licenses in 2019, 159 licenses in 2020, 32 new licenses in 2022 and 67 in 2023.
