regulatory body overseeing the sector. Broadcast licences are issued directly and renewed by the President. Licences may also be suspended or revoked at will. Although the National Broadcasting Commission(NBC) has been established as the regulatory body for the sector, it is directly under the control of political authorities and lacks any form of independence. The Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa, adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights in 2002, provides guidance on this issue and media organizations and other interest groups need to pressure the government to apply these standards. The Declaration provides in Article VII that: 1. Any public authority that exercises powers in the areas of broadcast or telecommunications regulation should be independent and adequately protected against interference, particularly of a political or economic nature. 2. The appointments process for members of a regulatory body should be open and transparent, involve the participation of civil society, and shall not be controlled by any particular political party. 3. Any public authority that exercises powers in the areas of broadcast or telecommunications should be formally accountable to the public through a multi-party body. Besides the regulatory issues, the broadcast media also face other challenges, including poor infrastructure, lack of access to capital, poor financial or business management systems or knowledge and skills on the part of the media managers, and financial sustainability issues. The sector also has the problem of government-controlled broadcasters, which should ideally be public service broadcasters, but are used as propaganda outlets for the President, at the Federal level, and for the Governor, at the State level, with alternative voices being shut out. We have previously had instances where government controlled broadcasters have been used to incite sections of the society against others, particularly those who are viewed as critics of the government, opposition candidates or political parties, and even against the independent media. Again, the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa provides guidance on what the character of state and government controlled broadcasters should be, when it states in Article VI thus: