This was revealed by Balarabe Ilelah, Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), during a press conference in Abuja on Thursday.

He also stated that President Muhammadu Buhari has authorized the establishment of 67 new radio and television stations in Nigeria.

Ilelah, who recited NBC’s scorecard, stated that Nigeria presently has 740 operational broadcast stations.

He did, however, note that the commission has fined 17 broadcast stations since the start of the presidential campaign for 2023 in September.NYSC portal

According to him, NBC warned 196 stations; cautioned 69; queried 13; and referred nine stations to its headquarters across the country.

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However, the names of the erring TV and Radio stations were not disclosed.

Also, Ilelah noted that 473 stations were issued licenses by the current administration.

Among the achievements listed by Ilelah is the approval of the independence of NBC from any political interference in the exercise of its regulatory functions, particularly in regard to the issuance and withdrawal of broadcasting licenses by President Buhari.

According to him, this helped to a great extent in the reduction of violations by broadcasters unlike what was obtainable in the past.

Commenting on Digital Switchover (DSO), the NBC DG said President Buhari has continued to support the digital switchover in spite of inherent implementation challenges.

“The Commission is currently working on simultaneous delivery of Nigeria to the life-changing experience of digital broadcasting using SIMULCRYPT.

“Against this background, ITS and NTA-Star Nigeria have signed an agreement to actualise this at the earliest possible time. To rejig DSO, the Board of the Commission has approved licensing the 3rd signal distributor. This is in addition to the existing ones; ITS and Pinnacle,” he said.JAMB Result