The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has temporarily suspended the shutdown of the stations indebted to it.

The commission made this known in a statement signed by Balarabe Shehu Ilelah, its director general, on Friday.

“The National Broadcasting Commission on Friday, August 19th, 2022, issued a shutdown notice to licensees that are indebted to the commission,” NBC’s statement reads in part.

READ MORE: NBC to Shutdown AIT, Silverbird, Others in 24 Hours

“Following the ultimatum, the commission received positive responses from the debtor licensees, including big players in the broadcast industry.

“Sequel to a follow-up meeting held with executives of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) and other critical stakeholders in the industry, the commission has decided to temporarily suspend the shutdown of the indebted broadcast stations all over the country.

“The commission is not unaware of the difficulties this shutdown must have caused the operators and other stakeholders, but must state that the commission will always operate within the National Broadcasting Commission Act, Cap. N11, Laws of the Federation, 2004.”

READ ALSO: AIT, Silverbird, Others Get More Time to Pay NBC Debts

On August 19, the commission announced that it had revoked the broadcast licences of the Africa Independent Television (AIT), Silverbird, Raypower FM, Rhythm FM and 48 others over unpaid dues.

NBC later acknowledged AIT’s DAAR Communications Ltd. and Silverbird TV/Rhythm FM’s responses, suggesting that they had reached an agreement.

“We express our profound appreciation to the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, the affected licensees and Broadcast Stakeholders for their responses and interventions. We, specifically, thank DAAR Communications Ltd and Silverbird TV/Rhythm FM for their responses,” the statement reads.