BREAKING: SERAP Drags NBC To Court Over Ban On Eedris Abdulkareem’s ‘Tell Your Papa’
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has taken legal action against the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), challenging what it describes as the “arbitrary and unlawful” prohibition of Eedris Abdulkareem’s song ‘Tell Your Papa’.
Naija News reports that this was revealed in a statement issued by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, and circulated to the press on Sunday.
The song, which reportedly criticises the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu, was barred from public broadcast on the grounds of allegedly violating “public decency standards.”
In the suit, filed at the Federal High Court in Lagos and marked FHC/L/CS/797/2025, SERAP is asking the court to nullify NBC’s directive, asserting that the ban infringes on constitutionally and internationally guaranteed rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and media independence.
As part of its demands, SERAP seeks “an order of perpetual injunction restraining the NBC — whether jointly or severally — or any other authority, person, or group of persons from preventing the airing of Eedris Abdulkareem’s song on all broadcast stations and similar media platforms in Nigeria.”
The organisation is also calling for “a declaration that NBC’s directive, issued via a letter dated April 9, 2025, to all broadcast stations in Nigeria banning the airing of Eedris Abdulkareem’s song, is unlawful and inconsistent and incompatible with the rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom.”
Filed by Oluwadare alongside two other lawyers, the suit argues that the ban fails the constitutional tests of necessity and proportionality, breaching both Nigerian law and international conventions protecting free speech.
SERAP further stated, “Section 3.1.8 of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code is overbroad and excessively intrusive, as it breaches the fundamental rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom.”
The organisation emphasised the importance of artistic freedom in democratic societies, warning that censorship of such expression stifles debate and undermines democratic governance.
“The ban on Eedris’ song fails to meet the requirements of legality, necessity, and proportionality.
“The requirement of necessity also implies an assessment of the proportionality of the grounds, with the aim of ensuring that the excuse of ‘objectionable nature’ and ‘public decency’ is not used as a pretext to ban Eedris’ song and unduly intrude upon Nigerians’ human rights,” SERAP stated.
According to the statement, “Article 19(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights establishes the right to freedom of opinion without interference. Article 19(2) establishes Nigeria’s obligations to respect ‘the right to freedom of expression,’ which includes the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information, regardless of frontiers.”
It added, “Under Article 19(3), restrictions on the right to freedom of expression must be ‘provided by law’, and necessary ‘for respect of the rights or reputations of others’ or ‘for the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health and morals’.”
