Federal High Court Orders Reopening Of Benin Judicial Division

On Wednesday, May 10, the Federal High Court (FHC) Chief Judge, Justice John Tsoho, ordered the reopening of the Benin City Judicial Division.

This is as the court also informed the general public about the relocation of the division to the venue formerly used by the Court of Appeal.

The location, Naija News understands, is within the High Court complex opposite Benin Correctional Centre on Sapele Road in the Edo State capital.

The directive issued by the FHC Assistant Director of Information, Catherine Oby-Christopher, reads: “The Honourable, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Hon. Justice John T. Tsoho, OFR wishes to notify members of the public that the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Benin-City Judicial Division has been relocated to the venue formerly used by the Court of Appeal, within the High Court complex, Benin-City, opposite Benin Correctional Centre, Sapele Road, Benin City, Edo state.

“With this development, the two Courts that comprise the Benin-City Judicial Division of the Federal High Court resumed full sitting on the 8th day of May 2023 at the new venue.”

The FHC, situated on the Benin-Auchi road, had been closed due to the threat of flood.

Court Stops NBC From Imposing Fines On Broadcast Stations

Meanwhile, a Federal High Court in Abuja has stopped the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) from imposing fines on broadcast stations in the country.

On Wednesday (today), Justice James Omotosho voided the N500,000 fines imposed by NBC on 45 broadcast stations on March 1, 2019, Naija News reports.

According to Justice Omotosho, NBC, not being a court of law, lacked the power to impose sanctions as punishment on alleged erring broadcast stations.

He held that the NBC Code, on which the commission relies to impose sanctions, is in conflict with Section 6 of the Constitution, that vested judicial power in the court of law.

The judge said the court would not sit idle and watch a body arbitrarily imposing a fine without recourse to the law.

He added that the commission did not comply with the law when it sat as a complainant and at the same time, a court and a judge on its own case.

The judgment was on a suit marked:FHC/ABJ/CS/1386/2021 filed by a group, the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda.