The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
yesterday grilled National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Director-General Emeka
Mba and some Account workers over the ongoing investigation of about N15 billion
for digitisation process.
Mba’s invitation
followed the earlier raid of the NBC headquarters, which is within the precinct
of the Presidential Villa, about two weeks ago.
A source said: “The DG of NBC was grilled for hours on
the activities of the commission, including the management of about N15 billion
voted for some projects.
“The DG has made statement and our officials have also
raised a few issues for him to clarify based on facts at our disposal.
“We were at the broadcasting commission about two weeks
ago, but most of the top staff were unavailable, having got wind of our
operation.
“This is a routine development, the EFCC will release the
details later.”
A source in the Ministry of Information said: “What we
know is that Mba was invited by the EFCC
in connection with the management of funds voted for set up boxes or decoders
for digitisation of the nation’s broadcasting system.
“You know that the Federal Government set up a National
Digitisation Committee for the graduation of the country from analogue
broadcasting to digitisation
“A substantial budget was voted for the process. I think
some people raised the alarm about the funds and the EFCC decided to look into
the issue.
“This is the basic fact at our disposal, but the EFCC may
have dug deeper than that. Definitely, NBC is a public institution, it has to
be accountable for its conduct, including financial commitments. We will await
the official findings of the anti-graft agency.
“By our records, Mba was invited by the EFCC and he went
to honour it. Maybe other things transpired after the invitation, we don’t
know.”
EFCC Head of Media and Publicity Wilson Uwujaren said he
was out of Abuja as at press time.
But there was panic at the NBC headquarters yesterday
following the arrest of Mba.
Many top officials of the government agency hurriedly
closed their offices as operatives of the anti-graft agency ransacked the DG’s
office before whisking him away.
A witness confirmed to The Nation that it was the second
time in the year that the EFCC would swoop on the NBC with a large number of
operatives to effect an arrest of a top official.
The source said the operatives came last week Monday, but
could not arrest the DG and some of his top officials who failed to turn up in
office after they were informed of the fate awaiting them.
He added that with the way things were going at the
agency, there were fears that more people might be arrested by the EFCC in the
days ahead.
However, the NBC’s Director Public Communications, Malam
Awwalu Salihu, was not available for comment yesterday.
Only last weekend, some operators in the
telecommunications industry expressed shock over the activities of the NBC.
They called for a comprehensive probe of the commission
under the leadership of Mba.
The operators, who spoke at separate
interviews in Abuja at a Consultative Forum, faulted the regulatory body on the
awards of contracts for the production of set-up boxes for digital
broadcasting.
Source: The Nation
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