The Federal Government on Monday said it would be offering 60 per cent debt forgiveness to defaulting radio and TV stations as part of efforts to cushion the effect of coronavirus on the broadcast industry.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said at a press conference in Abuja on Monday that the affected stations are indebted to the Federal Government to the tune of N7.8 billion.
Mohammed said the National Broadcasting Commission made some recommendations which the Federal Government has accepted.
He listed part of them as: “(a) 60 per cent debt forgiveness for all debtor broadcast stations in the country.
“(b) The criterion for enjoying the debt forgiveness is for debtor stations to pay 40 per cent of their existing debt within the next three months
“(c) Any station that is unable to pay the balance of 40 per cent indebtedness within the three months window shall forfeit the opportunity to enjoy the stated debt forgiveness.
“(d) The existing license fee is further discounted by 30 per cent for all Open Terrestrial Radio and Television services effective July 10th, 2020
“(e) The debt forgiveness shall apply to functional licensed Terrestrial Radio and Television stations only.
“(f) The debt forgiveness and discount shall not apply to pay-TV service operators in Nigeria.
“(g) The effective date of the debt forgiveness shall be July 10th 2020 to October 6th, 2020.”
