NBC to release list of indebted broadcast stations  

Broadcast stations that are indebted to the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, N5 billion licence fees, will today have their names exposed to the public, the commission has said.

Director-General of NBC, Mallam Is’haq Modibbo Kawu, made the statement on Sunday while addressing stakeholders in Abuja. He said the commission is worried at the situation where many stations have refused to pay their licence fees.

“The statutory act of informing the NBC, six months before the expiration of licence and signifying intention to continue as a licensee, is ignored,” Kawu said.

The commission had last month indicated it would withdraw the licenses of broadcast stations who are still indebted to the commission by March 15.

“Our licensees carry on, as if they have their licenses for keeps and the NBC cannot withdraw licenses. It is important to remind us all that ALL licenses are provisional, no matter how long you have held them. And for emphasis, I want to let you know that stations owe over N5Billion as license fees. “I will like to use this medium to inform you, that the NBC would be invoking the relevant laws against erring stations.