Group calls on Buhari to probe NBC boss Kawu over license racketeering allegations

An urgent call has been made urging President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately probe into allegations of license racketeering involving the Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Mallam Ishaq Modibbo Kawu.

The call was made on Tuesday by Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance (CACOBAG) which said it has proof that Kawu recently allocated license to six radio stations belonging to his private company.

The group revealed that much and more in a statement signed by its National Chairman, Toyin Raheem.

The statement by the group reads thus in part; “We are again compelled to draw the attention of President Buhari and indeed the Nigerian public to our disturbing discovery of how the DG of NBC surreptitiously allocated six slots of radio license to his private company, Word Sound and Vision (WSV) Multimedia Ltd in the recent allocation of Radio and Television broadcast license to private operators in the country.”

The group also added that the radio stations which the NBC DG gave licenses to through his private company are variously located in Abuja, Lagos, Kaduna, Kano, and two in Ilorin and Kwara States.

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“We believe this is totally unacceptable in a country governed by rules and regulations,” it added.

“It is an abuse of office and a display of cheer greed and racketeering. By virtue of section 15 (5) of 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as amended, we at CACOBAG are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to take immediate action.

“It is appalling that in a country of over 200 million people an individual will take advantage of his privileged position as the Chief Executive Officer of public agency to allocate six prime slots of radio license to himself.

“There is also a clear case of corruptly enriching himself by selling and substituting licenses to companies and people who never applied for them.

“We are therefore calling on the EFCC and ICPC to commence immediate investigations into these infractions.

“In this same country the CJN was accused of non-declaration of his assets, he was suspended from office we wonder why Modibbo Kawu who is facing trial charges of corruption and criminal conspiracy is still allowed as the DG of NBC. We, therefore, call on him to step down from his position until his innocence is established.

“We urge President Buhari to as a matter of urgency to direct one of the anti-graft agencies EFCC and ICPC to launch an investigation into this embarrassing development to protect the integrity of the administration as one zero tolerance for corruption.

“We assure the public our ongoing private investigation on this matter is already yielding some more shocking discoveries about the level of corruption some officials of this administration are involved in.

“In coming days we shall be making some of our findings public. Nigerians should stay alert and join the vanguard to rid our nation and public offices of corrupt officials.”

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