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NBC Boss, Kawu, Accused Of Granting Self Broadcast Licence

CACOBAG, in a petition to the president, said Kawu by issuing himself broadcasting licence was culpable of criminal breach of trust, forgery, fraud, alteration racketeering and substitution of licences.

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Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance (CACOBAG) has alleged that Is'haq Modibbo Kawu, Director-General of National Broadcasting Commission of issuing himself licences to operate broadcast stations in the country.

Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff of President Muhammadu Buhari, was also accused to have benefited from the racketeering and substitution of radio and television broadcast licences.

CACOBAG, in a petition to the president, said Kawu by issuing himself broadcasting licence was culpable of criminal breach of trust, forgery, fraud, alteration racketeering and substitution of licences.

Toyin Raheem, Chairman of CACOBAG, stated that Kawu allocated six slots of radio licence to his private company, Word, Sound and Vision (WSV) Multimedia Ltd and another 10 to companies that did not apply or on the list approved by President Buhari.

Raheem said, “We are again compelled to draw the attention of President Buhari and indeed the Nigerian public to another finding, which indicates that one of the 10 radio licences doled out by the leadership of NBC is owned by Abba Kyari, who used his position and influence to award to his company through his children as proxies. 

“The 10 companies that did not apply or bided for any radio licence were smuggled into a list already approved by President Buhari.

“Our investigations shows that one of the beneficiaries of the doctored licence list is Oracle Exclusive Services and Consult Ltd, with its registered address as 20 Monrovia Crescent, Wuse 2, Abuja.

“Further investigations also reveal that the company has only two directors/shareholders, who are both children of Mr. Kingibe, namely; Abdulkabir Kingibe and Zara Aminu Deribe, who both gave the same address as 59 Nelson Mandela Crescent, Asokoro, Abuja, the personal residence of Ambassador Kingibe.”

Raheem posited out that the licence racketeering was a confirmation of one of the ways the cabal around President Buhari operates by circumventing due process and manipulating his approval for personal benefits.

He added that the act is condemnable and totally unacceptable in a country governed by rules and regulations while describing it as “an abuse of office and a display of sheer greed.”

The governance group urged Buhari and the anti-graft agencies that had been petitioned on this matter to move swiftly and probe its allegations against NBC and its leadership.

“We reiterate our earlier call on President Buhari to immediately direct the EFCC and ICPC to launch an investigation into this embarrassing development to protect the integrity of the administration, which professes zero tolerance for corruption as one of its principal pillars.

“We equally assure the public of our commitment to expose corruption anywhere we find any,” CACOBAG said.

It added that if the federal government and its anti-graft agencies failed to act by probing these allegations, CACOBAG would approach the court to seek an order of mandamus to compel the government to do the needful.