Jay FM Jos re-opens, case adjourned till July 1

Jay FM Jos that was shut by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has been re-opened.

After two appearances in court, both the NBC and management of the radio agreed to settle the alleged unlawful closure out of court.

The management described the March 1, 2019 closure of the station as politically motivated.

Jay FM had, through its lead counsel, sued the commission before Justice Musa Kurya of the Federal High Court II, Jos, demanding its immediate re-opening and payment of N500 million to it as compensation for general damages suffered as a result of the closure.

On May 8, 2019 when the case came up for hearing, the station’s counsel told the court that there was an ongoing discussion between the station and the commission to settle the matter out of court.

“My lord, the matter today is slated for hearing. But we wish to bring to the notice of this honourable court that we, the parties in this case, have started discussion on how to settle the matter out of court.

“It is our belief and expectation that we shall reach agreement on the matter as we discuss. In the light of this, my lord, we wish to ask for an adjournment to enable us complete our discussion and report back to the court our terms of agreement. But in the event we could not agree, we shall continue with the hearing of the matter before Your Lordship,” the lawyer submitted.

NBC was not represented by a lawyer at the hearing. But Dr. Ogomu Onoja, the director of NBC Jos, who represented the commission in court, confirmed the submission of the lawyer.

When the case came up yesterday, the counsel to Jay FM told the court that a motion ex parte had been served, dated May 10 and filed on May 14, adding that they were withdrawing that motion which the court subsequently struck out.

She added: “The respondent opened the applicant’s radio station. Opening our client’s radio station is one of the reliefs sought by the applicant. My lord, we believe that is a good step. We are asking for an adjournment to further negotiate other reliefs sought. We are asking for a date for settlement and report back to you.”

In his ruling, Justice Kurya said there should be a compromise in the matter. He adjourned the case till July 1, 2019 for report of settlement.