![]() He quickly set up a ministerial task force on DSO – ploy that not only effectively usurped the role of the NBC and Digiteam a body of experts already put in place by Nigeria’s federal government to liaise with the NBC with an ultimatum to deliver the DSO Project latest be June 2022, but also ensured the money was not subject to audit and official control of the ministry. ![]() But the ICPC which swung into action immediately after receiving the complaint was said to have discovered during its preliminary investigation that the money never got to the NBC.īeside, even the N600million approved for the commission to run the project has been coveted by Mr Mohammed and diverted to the ministry where he contrived a scheme to personally and directly control the funds. ![]() Indeed one of the companies was said to have alerted the ICPC and EFCC to complain that the NBC was fraudulently withholding the money. Rather Mr Mohammed was said to have allegedly entered into some dubious arrangement with officials of the hierarchy of the finance ministry to divert the money to an interest yielding account for an initial 90 days which was again rolled over in the month of March for a second time until the contractors became restive.Įven the decision to hurriedly liquidate the money from fixedĭeposit and pay the contractors it was gathered as a result of a tip off to the Minister that the contractors may have contacted the anti-graft agencies. In fact, the money never even got to the NBC Accounts- even now! Given the urgency, Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari approved the sum of N10 Billion Naira as loan to the NBC with a total of N9.4 billion to be used as payment to contractors and N600 Million as recurrent fund for the NBC to prosecute project.īut the contractors never got the money even though it was fully released in the first week of January until two weeks ago when they began to receive payments in trickles. These included local television stations not been able to access spare parts any longer for their equipment. The project again stalled and contractors who had worked on the project since commencement with belief that payment will be made timely to enable then service bank obligations and sustain the tempo of the project were unable to continue following the reported fraud which led to the Nigerian government halting further action on the project to investigate the scams.īut the NBC it was gathered raised alarm on the likely difficulties to be faced by Nigeria if the project continues to stalemate. Mr Kawu was suspended from office and he’s still facing criminal charges at the Federal Court in Abuja, Capital of Nigeria while Mr Mohammed who approved the scam still seats pretty in office. In 2016 the Nigerian Government faced with the vulnerabilities of solely operating an obsolete technology relaunched the program with fanfare in Jos Plateau State, but it was quickly marred with scandals of fraud and embezzlement of funds involving the Minister Mr Mohammed and the then DG NBC DG Mr Ishaq Modibbo Kawu ![]() Nigeria first started the process in 2008 but made no progress. The protocol gave a deadline of July, 2015 to fully switch over from analogue to digital.Īlmost all countries of the world have since eradicated analogue television broadcast and transited to the digital platform leaving Nigeria. The project is founded on an international protocol signed by Nigeria among several countries in the Group A batch of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva in 2006. The DSO is the process of upgrading the present analogue television broadcast systems to digital terrestrial television (DTT). Investigation by our correspondent revealed that N10 Billion was a loan provided to help offset debts owed to contractors who have been building infrastructure to enable the DSO project commence in the earnest. reported that the Minister in 2015 admitted extorting N13.5 Million from the NBC to embark on a foreign trip. Lai Mohammed since assumption of office as a minister in Mohammed Buhari’s government has allegedely been enmeshed in a series of financial scams including the recent has jeopardized the Nigeria’s Digital Switch Over (DSO) Project that has been operating in fits and starts since 2016. Sources to revealed that a N10 Billion loan released to the commission since December last year was diverted to a private account and has so far yielded interests estimated in excess of One Billion Nara already.Īccording to the source, following a tip off, the ICPC early last week raided the commission’s headquarters in Abuja and impounded several files, computers and gadgets belonging to the commission.
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