Tony John, Port Harcourt
A lawyer, Festus Ogwuche, has threatened legal action against the Federal Government over the N5 million hate speech fine in the new Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) code.
Ogwuche stated this in a letter to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
He drew the attention of the AGF to a judgment by the ECOWAS Court of Justice in 2018, in a suit he initiated against the Federal Government where he obtained a ruling that prevented government from enacting a law that was against press freedom.
Ogwuche threatened to “apply to the Community Court of Justice to obtain the necessary warrant and instrument for the execution of the said judgement as well as forward comprehensive reports against the government of Nigeria to the relevant international human rights agencies, if the AGF failed to grant his request.”
He further threatened to approach the relevant court to apply for the setting aside of the NBC Code.