Emerging facts indicate that Mr Emeka Mba, the Director General, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) who is currently being detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may be the victim of a high stakes conspiracy by vested interests who lost out in the bid for the 700MHz spectrum band in which MTN Nigeria Ltd emerged winner.
Sources in the Commission have insisted that the petition to EFCC and his subsequent arrest and detention may be part of a plot by vested interests to tarnish Mba’s image, force his removal as DG of NBC and install their cronies at the Commission so as to oversee the multi-billion budget digitization process.
Mba, a respected broadcast industry expert, won the African Broadcast Regulator for his “untiring effort in repositioning the broadcast sector and effectively piloting the Digital Switch Over (DSO) in broadcasting.”
The NBC under Mba’s leadership has been the subject of many sponsored media attacks by people over licensing bid for spectrum sales.
Many industry players are worried about the negative repercussions of his sudden detention given the delicate stage at which the digitisation process is and the progress being made to boost the agency’s contribution to the national coffers.
Sources within NBC have robustly defended the commission’s management under Mba over allegations that it concealed N15 billion, part of the N34 billion realized from the sale of the 700MHz spectrum band to MTN against the presidential directive that it be transferred to the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
The sources have revealed that that the money was fully committed to awarded contracts way before the Presidential TSA directive and provided at a guarantee by a Commercial Bank with the aim of supporting manufacturers of set-up boxes to aid the digitization process.
According to the sources, NBC had rightly declared and remitted the remaining part of the money to the TSA. Said the source: “The funds were meant to guarantee the manufacturer of set-up boxes, and had been deposited in the commercial bank before the TSA policy. I cannot confirm to you if it has been disbursed from the bank but I can confirm that the remaining part of the money has been transferred to the TSA. As I speak to you, NBC is strapped for funds and some of our activities have been hindered.
“Also, the NBC wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari, informing him of the sale,” the source said.
Some analysts said that the petition and his subsequent arrest and detention may be part of a grand plot by vested interests to tarnish his image, force his removal as DG of NBC in order to install one of the co-conspiratorial cronies at the commission so as to oversee the multi-billion budget digitization process.
Investigations have confirmed that NBC has disbursed funds from the account to some set-up box manufacturing companies for the digital switchover in accordance with their contractual agreements.
-Leadership