By Grace Udofia
Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) has rejected the Federal Government’s directive on licensing fees, stating that it could be perceived as an attempt to gag the media.
In a statement jointly signed by its Chairman, Sa’a Ibrahim, and Executive Secretary, Yemisi Bamgbose, on Thursday in Abuja, BON also called on the regime to ban the importation of analogue televisions into the country and reduce the cost of set-up boxes.
The statement reads, “It is deficient in addressing decade-long issues that have emerged since its issuance,’’ BON explained, stressing that the collection of the digital access fee “is complicated and illegal.
“We call for the immediate stoppage of the collection of digital access fee”, while the amount “so far collected should be accounted for.”
BON’s Central Working Committee (CWC) proposed that the broadcast licence fees pending the final migration from analogue to digital per annum should be N20 million for national digital torrential television (DTT), N10 million for regional N10 million, N15 million for Abuja, Lagos, Kano, and Port Harcourt, and N500,000 for state DTT.
“National Broadcasting Commission should, as a matter of urgency, bring together all critical stakeholders in the industry to take a total review of the entire digital switch-over process,’’ it added.
According to the statement, BON believes there should be more interface with practitioners than issuing directives interpreted as moves to gag the industry.
BON also called for a complete review of the digitisation process, specifically in the legal framework, as the only document available remains the government’s White Paper of 2012.
The BON statement pointed out that the document did not capture contemporary technological development.
“We call on the federal government to ban the importation of analogue TV sets into the country while the cost of set-top boxes should be made affordable.
“Also, the process of establishing the Society of Nigerian Broadcasters should begin immediately with a committee to work on modalities for it to begin,” the statement added.
