Digital Television, Corruption and Anti-Corruption Agencies, By Jibrin Ibrahim

According to Transparency International’s
guidelines, anti-corruption agencies must be independent and must
have full powers to investigate, arrest and prosecute suspects… At
the same time however, there must be an independent oversight
mechanism to monitor their functions and practices to ensure that
they do not abuse their powers.

One of the greatest challenges in the war against corruption is
the development of corruption and sloppiness within the agencies
charged with the anti-corruption struggle themselves – the
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission
(ICPC) the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), as well
as the police and judiciary. This was what the former chairman of
the EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu described as “corruption fighting back.”

A few weeks ago, I was surprised to read a newspaper report that
my good friend, Is’haq Modibbo Kawu was being investigated over an
alleged N2.5 billion fraud levelled against him and the
organisation he heads as director-general, the Nigerian
Broadcasting Commission (NBC). According to the spokesperson of the
ICPC, Mrs. Rasheedat Okoduwa, the money involved was a grant
released to the agency by the federal government for its digital
switch-over programme. The report said that the Presidency had in
2016 released N10 billion to the Ministry of Information and
Culture for the said programme: “which entails migration of
telephone lines from analogue to digital platforms and a White
Paper was issued directing that the process be specifically handled
by government-affiliated companies.” The “migration of telephone
lines” was the first indicator that the story was dubious. I knew
the digital migration was about radio and television, not
telephones.

The specific allegation by the ICPC against Mr. Kawu was that he
fraudulently recommended a private company, Pinnacle Communications
Limited, to the minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed,
for the release of the money against the guidelines contained in
the government White Paper for the digital switch-over. The
statement added that the said company, Pinnacle, had no experience
in the sector and that Kawu paid all these monies to them knowing
they could not deliver. Finally, the spokesperson for ICPC alleged
that the NBC D-G, during interactions with the Commission, could
not justify why the government White Paper was flouted, leading to
the release of money to an unqualified company.

Justice Dimgba described ICPC’s action against
Pinnacle Communications Limited as “an overkill, just like using a
sledgehammer to kill a fly”, considering that even after six months
since the case was instituted and despite the leeway provided by
many adjournments by the court, ICPC could not file any charge
against the company…

The story broke during the party primaries and I could not get
Modibbo Kawu for some time as he was engaged in the primaries
contest. When I finally caught up with him, he was enraged with the
idea that he disregarded the guidelines in the Government White
Paper and that he could not explain himself. The contract for the
digital switch-over was advertised in 2012 and finally awarded in
2014 to Pinnacle as the private distributor, while the Nigerian
Television Authority got the second slot for its affiliate company,
ITS, as directed by the Whitepaper. The whole process was therefore
carried out when Emeka Mba was D-G of NBC, while Mr. Kawu’s
appointment came in 2015 after the elections.

The allegation that Pinnacle Communications has no experience in
the industry is without foundation as it has established radio and
television houses for over ten state governments over the past two
decades. It is interesting that after ICPC closed the conmpany’s
accounts, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja two weeks ago
ordered ICPC to unfreeze the accounts and counselled
anti-corruption agencies of government against taking drastic
action that could prevent private enterprises from flourishing,
prior to concluding investigations to justify such action.

Delivering his ruling in the case instituted against ICPC by
Pinnacle Communications Limited for instructing Zenith Bank to
freeze its accounts, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba maintained that the
anti-corruption war was as beneficial to the society as flourishing
private enterprises, pointing out that scuttling the operations of
major private organisations like Pinnacle Communications Limited
also sent negative signals to the international community about
Nigeria’s business environment. Justice Dimgba described ICPC’s
action against Pinnacle Communications Limited as “an overkill,
just like using a sledgehammer to kill a fly”, considering that
even after six months since the case was instituted and despite the
leeway provided by many adjournments by the court, ICPC could not
file any charge against the company, emphasising that it should not
have frozen the account without establishing a prima facie against
it.

Anti-corruption agencies must lead by example and
ensure that their officials and staff practice proactive disclosure
of asset, undertake public reporting of their activities and
guarantee public access to information.

The digital switch-over is an important transition in Nigerian
mass communications as it would allow ordinary people who cannot
afford pay TV to have access to hundreds of television channels for
free. It would also revolutionise the industry by separating
content from distribution. Currently, television production is
extremely expensive because each television station has to set up
towers and expensive equipment to transmit its programmes. With the
digital transition, all television stations need to do is produce
their programmes, which would all then be distributed by the two
companies commissioned to do so. The cost of radio and television
production would therefore crash, opening the industry to new
actors with limited financial resources. The digital switch-over
for the Federal Capital Territory took place in 2016 and Kaduna
transited in 2017, while many more states would join over the
coming months. It is therefore important that the roll-out process
be allowed to continue as planned.

According to Transparency International’s guidelines,
anti-corruption agencies must be independent and must have full
powers to investigate, arrest and prosecute suspects. They must be
allowed full freedom to discharge their legal mandate impartially,
without interference from any quarters. At the same time however,
there must be an independent oversight mechanism to monitor their
functions and practices to ensure that they do not abuse their
powers. Anti-corruption agencies must lead by example and ensure
that their officials and staff practice proactive disclosure of
asset, undertake public reporting of their activities and guarantee
public access to information.

A professor of Political Science and development
consultant/expert, Jibrin Ibrahim^[1] is a Senior Fellow
of the Centre for Democracy and Development, and Chair of the
Editorial Board of PREMIUM TIMES^[2].

Related