Want Lai Mohammed to rejig DSO timetable
Admin l Friday, March 20,2020
ABUJA, Nigeria – There have sustained commendation by various groups including the Corruption Watchdogs and Set Top Box Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (STBMAN) for the suspension of the Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Director General, Modibbo Kawu for corruption and stalling the completion process of the digitization switch.
Modibbo Kawu and 32 other public officers/civil servants whohas been under investigation for several months now by the anti-graft agency, ICPC over alleged corruption, was recently suspended by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Pending the conclusion of investigations into the allegations against him, ICPC said it was prosecuting Modibbo Kawu for “using his position to confer corruption advantage.”
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Kawu and two others were arraigned on May 2 over alleged N2.5 billion fraud. The trio, who are being prosecuted on 12-count charges, allegedly conspired with each other to use the position of Kawu to confer a corrupt advantage on a few individuals and corporate entities.
Corruption Watchdogs and STBMAN alleged that the monies meant to finance DSO were not used for the purpose it was meant, adding that the DSO launch project that took place at Jos, Plateau State in April,2015 would have been a success story by now, but currently was faced with so many technical issues and shortcomings, with some areas not yet covered even in the state where the DSO was launched.
A petition by Corruption Watchdogs, signed by Nari Rikoto noted that in all the places the launch took place, “we can categorically say none was successfully executed. It is either half done or haphazardly done. It appears it is a failure. Ten (N10 billion) Naira released to the Commission in 2015 is already spent within space of one and a half years and was an outright failure.
“This has made many stakeholders to lose faith in the project. Of recent, Broadcast Organization of Nigeria (BON) had cause to call a press conference to draw the attention of the Commission to come out and tell Nigerians if the scheme is not a sham. Even the federal government seems to have lost confidence in the DG spear-heading the project, the financial assistance it ought to have released for the continuation of the project is no longer attainable due to mistrust the government has on him,” Corruptions Watchdogs said in a statement.
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The Concerned Staff of the National Broadcasting Commission in a recent protest collectively draw the attention of the government to the ugly development in the commission and urged the ICPC to quicken the prosecution of Kawu, while asking President Buhari to redeem the commission from further embarrassment and ridicule.
The staff said it is on record today that the administration of the commission has been turned to a one-man affair adding that management no longer seats to take decisions on matters of the Commission.
“The DG goes home with his friends, decides and takes decisions without the knowledge of Board of Management of the Commission. The commission became pluralised as a result. Today, the DG uses the procurement unit to get no-objection from Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) to enable him to award contracts with ease, which in most cases are given to cronies,” they said.
The groups and NBC staff commended President Buhari for the political will to restart the process of digitisation and suspension of the former DG after several petitions and investigations.
“President Buhari May have taken the bold step to forestall the settlement of several cases and threats that would have brought shame and ridicule to the country when viewed against the background of the fact that SES, a major world player in the broadcast industry is threatening to cut off its services if it is not paid urgently. The company after several pleas has vowed to block and withdraw its services which will be an ill wind that would destroy the entire process.
“The UK based for company that provides the backbone of the process is being owed several hundred millions of pounds for services so far carried out for Nigeria.
It is surprising though that the suspended DG had threatened that for as long as the case against him remains in court, he would stall the DSO project, thus putting personal interest above national interest.
“The controversy may also not have come up but for the recommendations of the NBC Management and the Minister of Information Alhaji Lai Mohammed that the Federal Government should pay N2.5 billion to a private company as seed money after a case was made for the NTA.
“While talking about the plight of set top box manufacturers, the issue should be addressed holistically, so as not to break the ranks of the association. It is also not in doubt that the overbearing attitude of the suspended DG on the Digiteam, the body made of technocrats to oversee and drive the process may have been seen as a means of achieving his goal of stalling the roll outplans.
On the urgent need to ensure that the DSO is back, Corruption Watchdog and NBC staff further said that the Group Managing Director of Gospell Digital Technology Limited, and Chairman, Set Top Box Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (STBMAN) and Chairman of Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), Sir Godfrey Ohuabunwa, at every available opportunity has never failed to inform the federal government that fast-tracking the digitisation could boost the economy and create jobs for the unemployed.
Ohuabunwa, who decried that the digitisation process has been delayed while acknowledging the fact that the President has done well by listening to informedopinion on the way forward, urged the Minister of Information through the NBC to restart the process to avoid further distractions.
“More so, the President has done well by appointing a technocrat and Director of the NBC Prof Armstrong Idachaba to rejig the process and ensure the digitisation is not hampered.
“The Federal Government through the NBC should as a matter of national concern set up a timetable for theroll out in other areas outside the already six states. The Acting DG with his staff has the manpower to effectively move the process forward and bring about the economic benefits of digitisation
It is also worthy to note that since the last launching in Enugu nothing significant has been done on DSO. The former DG could not be said to be unaware that Set Top Box manufacturers are being owed billions of naira and have the capacity to do more but yet went ahead to organise a bid for box manufacturers. Funny enough none of the companies could meet the requirement for the manufacturing of the STBs.
“There is an urgent need for a well-planned schedule and time table of the digitisation process. The federal government has done well by asking Kawu to step aside; however, there is a need for the federal government to push the digitisation process with a strong political will,” the NBC staff said.
