SERAP, NGE Sue Niger Governor Over Alleged Threats to Shut Down Badeggi Radio

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) have filed a lawsuit against Niger State Governor, Umar Bago, over what they described as an alleged threat to shut down Badeggi FM Radio, a privately owned station in the state.

In the suit, marked FHC/L/CS/1587/2025 and filed on Friday, August 8, 2025, at the Federal High Court in Lagos, the groups are seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the governor and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) from “further harassing, intimidating, and/or threatening to shut down Badeggi FM radio, revoke its licence, and profile the station’s owner.”

“Unless the reliefs sought are granted, the governor will continue to threaten, intimidate, and harass the radio station and its owner and may weaponise the NBC against the station,” SERAP said in a post shared on its X handle on Sunday.

The plaintiffs asked the court to determine “whether by Section 22 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and Section 2(1)(t) of the NBC Act, the NBC has the legal duty to protect Badeggi FM from the ongoing intimidation from the governor.”

They also sought “a declaration that by the combined provisions of Section 22 of the Constitution and Section 2(1)(t) of the NBC Act, the NBC has the legal duty to protect Badeggi FM station and other broadcasting outlets in Nigeria from any threat, intimidation and harassment.”

In their filings, SERAP and NGE argued that “the failure and/or neglect of the NBC to protect and defend the independence of Badeggi FM radio against arbitrary executive interference and ongoing intimidation constitutes a breach of its statutory duty to ensure fair, independent, and lawful broadcasting practices in Nigeria.”

They contended that “the ongoing intimidation, and threat by Mr Bago to strip Badeggi FM station of its licence, further threat to demolish the station’s premises and profile its owner is unlawful and a violation of the rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom.”

According to them, “the allegations of inciting violence against Badeggi FM and its owner are vague, unfounded and unsubstantiated and apparently made to silence the radio station.”

The suit read in part:

“The media plays an essential role as a vehicle or instrument for the exercise of freedom of expression and information – in its individual and collective aspects – in a democratic society.

Intimidating, harassing, and silencing critical or dissenting voices under the guise of vague and unsubstantiated national security concerns is a fundamental breach of the Nigerian Constitution and Nigeria’s international human rights obligations.

Intimidating, harassing, and silencing Badeggi FM and its owner would have a chilling effect on the protection of freedom of expression and media freedom across several states.

The ongoing intimidation, harassment, and threat to arbitrarily revoke the station’s licence, unlawfully demolish its premises, and profile its owner are all clearly antithetical to the requirements of the Nigerian Constitution and the country’s international human rights obligations.”

Governor Bago had earlier ordered the immediate revocation of Badeggi FM’s operational licence, accusing the station of consistently inciting the public against the state government through its broadcasts.

He issued the order during an expanded All Progressives Congress (APC) Caucus meeting at the Hauwa Wali Multipurpose Hall in Government House, Minna, claiming the station’s actions were “not only unprofessional but a deliberate attempt to destabilise the current administration’s efforts under the New Niger Development Agenda.”