By Samuel Abulude
Stakeholders in the movie industry have called for the release of the director-general of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Mr Emeka Mba who has been in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the last one week.
The NBC boss was picked up in Abuja on January 11, 2016 over an alleged N15 billion fraud. Some detectives of the EFCC had reportedly stormed the headquarters of the NBC and went through computers and files in the finance and account departments of the agency before taking away Mba.
The stakeholders said the NBC boss should be released or charged to court since he had spent more than 48 hours in EFCC custody allowed by law. In a post by film maker Charles Novia who visited Mba at the EFCC headquarters on January 17, he said “I stand with Emeka Mba whom I have known for many years as a fine gentleman and professional/technocrat. Now, I am not the only one in the broadcast and entertainment industry who feels that way. Almost everyone in these sectors are shocked and upset at what is happening to a man who professionally has turned around sectors of our industry over the years through his astuteness and dedication to duty.”Andy Amenechi, Fidelis Duker and many others in the movie sector corroborated the view expressed by Novia and called on government to order Mba’s release or charge him to court. On his part, the embattled NBC boss is reported to have continued to wonder why he’s still in custody. “I have given my best, turned around the NBC and made it a multi-billion naira yielding parastatal (even more than some ministries). I have shown the government how broadcasting can even fund the whole budget of this country alone. I have done my best. And now, through some politics and witch-hunt, they pat my back with this. Who takes this kind of thing? The officers here have heard my side of the story. Every document and paper vindicating my defence has been shown. Why I am still here is up to them. But I’m tired”.
A report however said Mba was granted an administrative bail on Wednesday, but was unable to meet the bail conditions. One of the directors in the NBC who visited Mba at the EFCC headquarters, noted that the bail conditions were so stringent that they could not be easily met.
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