NBC Issues New Non-Negotiable Working Conditions For GOtv | Nairalaw

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has issued new
conditions for GOtv to continue its operations in Nigeria.

The commission cleared the air on the reports that it had issued
an ultimatum to Details Nigeria Limited over the operations of GOtv
in Nigeria.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, Is’haq Modibbo Kawu,
the NBC Director-General, affirmed that the Digital Terrestrial
Licence issued to Details Nigeria Limited is scheduled to expire in
a few days and a notice had been issued in January 2018.

According to Kawu, the claim that NBC had plans to close down
GOtv was never the commission’s intention, as several meetings are
ongoing between both parties.

He said a “definitive meeting” held on Thursday, and it was
resolved that the licence would be renewed for three years. Present
at the meeting was General Babagana Monguno, the National Security
Adviser.

“Yesterday night, we were able to use the good offices of the
National Security Adviser (NSA), to break the logjam in respect of
the renewal of the Digital Terrestrial Licence issued to Details
Nigeria Limited for the operations of GOTV. Most of you might be
aware that in January 2018, we had issued a notice that the said
licence was not going to be renewed at expiration.

“That licence is actually expected to expire in a couple of days
on. We took the decision not to renew the licence, because the new
architecture of Nigerian Broadcasting in the digital era separates
the roles of the content provider from that of the signal
distributors. This is according to the government White Paper on
the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting.

“Against the backdrop of the notice that we issued in January
2018, there was a lot of misinformation put out in the public space
that NBC had taken a decision to close down GOTV. But that had
never been our intention. We realise the place of Details Nigeria
as a critical stakeholder in the Nigerian Broadcasting industry,
the huge amount of investment they have made in the industry and
the jobs that they have created directly and indirectly.

“But the NBC is irrevocably committed to the Digital Switchover
(DSO), and the policy guideline in respect of the separation of
Content Provider and Signal Distributor. That is the reason for
letter to Details Nigeria Limited. But over the past couple of
months, we have held several meetings with representatives of
Details Nigeria Limited on the appropriate way to keep them in
business in Nigeria, while we also enforce the position of
government in respect of the White Paper on DSO. Finally,
yesterday, we held the definitive meeting under the auspices of the
National Security Adviser, General Babagana Monguno, during which
we were able to resolve the main obstacles.

“Yesterday’s meeting resolved that GOTV would have its licence
renewed for a period of three years, but with certain provisos. The
separation of Content Provider from Signal Distributor is
non-negotiable! That means that GOTV, going forward, in the near
future, will no longer combine the two functions. So in the
three-year period of licensing that we are issuing, they would be
expected to begin discussions with any of the two licensed Signal
Distributors, Integrated Television Services (ITS) and Pinnacle
Communications Limited, on the preferred platform to carry their
content. These resolutions came on the back of often, difficult
days of negotiations, that involved several stakeholders. As I said
earlier, we want to thank the National Security Adviser for the
role that he played in helping us resolve the impasse. The
resolution of the issue recognized the role of investors in the
broadcasting and other sectors of the Nigerian economy. And in
resolving the issue, we realize the importance of investor
confidence in the Nigerian economy, as well as the efforts to take
Nigeria to the next level, by President Muhammadu Buhari.”

NBC also issued strict warning to broadcast media organisations
in the country on covering elections, stating that anyone that
flouts the regulations would face strict sanctions.