SERAP challenges NBC's ban on Eedris Abdulkareem's "Tell Your Papa" in court

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has taken legal action against the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) regarding what it has labeled an “arbitrary and unlawful” prohibition of Eedris Abdulkareem’s song "Tell Your Papa."

This information was shared in a statement penned by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, and released to reporters on Sunday.

The song, which allegedly critiques President Bola Tinubu’s economic strategies, was barred from airing on the grounds of supposedly breaching “public decency standards.”

In the lawsuit referenced as FHC/L/CS/797/2025 and submitted to the Federal High Court in Lagos, SERAP is requesting a legal order to annul the NBC’s directive, claiming it contradicts the rights to free expression, access to information, and media freedom.

Additionally, SERAP seeks "a perpetual injunction preventing the NBC , whether jointly or separately — or any other authority, individual, or group from obstructing the broadcast of Eedris Abdulkareem’s song across all media stations and platforms in Nigeria."

Furthermore, SERAP wants "a declaration affirming that the NBC’s prohibition, issued through a letter dated April 9, 2025, to all broadcasting stations in Nigeria banning Eedris Abdulkareem’s song, is illegal, inconsistent, and incompatible with the rights to free expression, access to information, and media freedom."

The suit, filed by Oluwadare alongside two other attorneys, contends that the ban does not meet the necessary legal standards of necessity and proportionality, violating both Nigerian and international regulations concerning free expression.

SERAP noted that "Section 3.1.8 of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code is excessively broad and intrusively overreaching, as it infringes upon the essential rights to free expression, access to information, and media freedom."

The organization asserted that artistic expression is crucial in democratic discussions and that censorship suppresses social dialogue and erodes democratic principles.

"The restriction on Eedris’ song does not fulfill the criteria of legality, necessity, and proportionality."

They further elaborated, "The necessity requirement also involves evaluating the proportionality of the justifications, to ensure that the justification of ‘objectionable nature’ and ‘public decency’ is not misused as a cover for banning Eedris’ song and intruding unduly upon the human rights of Nigerians," SERAP emphasized.

The statement continued, "Article 19(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights affirms the right to hold opinions without interference. Article 19(2) outlines Nigeria’s duties to honor 'the right to freedom of expression,' which includes the freedom to seek, receive, and disseminate information, irrespective of boundaries."

"According to Article 19(3), limitations on the right to freedom of expression must be 'prescribed by law' and necessary 'for the respect of the rights or reputations of others' or for 'the safeguarding of national security, public order (ordre public), or public health and morals.'"