EFCC to return N10bn to NBC - Buhari Orders

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the
return of N10bn seized from the National
Broadcasting Commission by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission.
The Director-General of NBC, Mallam Is’haq Kawu,
said this in Abuja on Thursday at a press
conference to announce the 20th edition of Africa
Broadcasting Conference and Exhibition coming up
in Abuja next week.
The money is part of the funds realised by the NBC
from the controversial sale of frequency to MTN
Nigeria Communications Limited.
The funds had been a subject of probe by the EFCC
following allegation that the broadcast regulatory
agency failed to remit it to the Treasury Single
Account at the time prescribed by the Federal
Government.
The NBC had claimed that the funds were meant for
projects being executed for the country’s migration
to digital broadcasting.
Kawu said the funds would be channelled towards
projects and programmes aimed at achieving the
transition to digital broadcasting for which a
deadline of June 2017 had been set.
He added that the NBC was planning to establish a
content development for the broadcast industry as
the era of digitisation was expected to create
immense need for content development as a result
of multiple channels to be witnessed in the new
era.
The NBC boss said, “We are going to assist a lot of
young people to get finances for the production of
their contents. We are thinking in terms of content
development fund within the NBC and the NBC also
provides opportunity for young content providers.”
According to Kawu, a 10 per cent increase in the
digitisation of the broadcast industry is predicted
to create one million new jobs.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Information and Culture,
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has given assurance that the
digital switchover from analogue television would
be achieved in the Federal Capital Territory before
the end of the year.
Mohammed gave the assurance after a guided
facility tour of Pinnacle Communication Limited –
the licensed signal distributor of the DSO in the
FCT and Trefonics, a manufacturer of Set-Top-
Boxes.
He said it was imperative to ascertain the level of
preparation of all the stakeholders in order to
ensure a successful roll-out in Abuja.
The minister said, “We are very much on track but I
think it’s important to understand what the Digital
Switch Over entails. It entails that all the
component actors be ready.”
He expressed satisfaction with the signal
distributor as well as the Set-Top-Box
manufacturer, adding that they were on track to
meeting the switch over date.