Former members of the commission of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), have given the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) conditions upon which it would want, its invitation for interrogation on the N3.4billion spectrum deal would go.
The former members who were reportedly invited for questioning by the anti-graft agency, as part of its ongoing investigation into the deal have requested for an extension of time, so that those outside Nigeria, whether or not they receive their invitation, should be accorded the benefit of their travel time and allowed to appear only when they return to the country.
While those who have received their invitation and are available in Nigeria may attend on the date of their invitation, if convenient, those within Nigeria but yet to receive their invitations should be accorded at least one week notice to appear, in the hope that the letter of invitation would have been received within that time.
In the letter addressed to the chairman of the EFCC, the former members of the commission of the NBC namely; Herbert Orji (Chairman), Mohammed Umar, Mike Iheanetu, Yakubu Buji, Ebenezer Ayorinde, Isa Dahiru, Dennis Sam, Jude Nnodum SAN, Emeka Mba, and Peter Dama, Basil Udotai Esq., and Technology Advisors LLP berated the anti graft agency for its media persecution.
They said in the letter signed by their counsel, Ogwu Onoja SAN that only one of them had received a formal invitation from the EFCC, while others read of their invitation for the first time on the pages of the newspapers and on social media.
“First of all, our clients have instructed us to object, in the strongest terms possible, the approach adopted by the EFCC in this matter which they perceive to amount to deliberate media persecution and conviction calculated to embarrass and disparage their reputation in the eyes of the public and before their families and friends.
“In addition to the irreparable damage and incalculable harm your publications have caused them, the actions of the EFCC have effectively robbed our clients of their Constitutional right of presumption of innocence, which every citizen of this country is entitled to, and for which the EFCC as a law enforcement agency is not only obligated to respect, but also bound by law to uphold.
“Most troubling to our clients is that their premature trial and conviction by the EFCC in the media points to grave insincerity and lack of objectivity on the part of the EFCC, causing them to doubt seriously that the EFCC is capable of affording them fair hearing or objective interrogations as the EFCC seem to have already determined that our clients were all involved in a N3.4b scam”, they noted.
While clarifying their role as the former Members of the Commission, the former board insisted that there was no scam in the sum of N3.4 billion or in any amount that they were aware of.
Specifically in relation to Technology Advisors, a proposal was submitted to NBC, which was brought up to the Members of the Commission for review. The salient aspects of the proposal referred to the then Members of the Commission for consideration were the assignments to be performed by Technology Advisors, and the fees, which the firm demanded. Upon review, the board agreed that the firm should be engaged to proceed with the assignment as presented but that the fees of 20% demanded should be reduced to 10%.
On the sale of spectrum; “NBC neither sold nor leased spectrum to MTN. This confused allegation belies the unfortunate lack of understanding of the licensing process(es) of NBC, and little knowledge of the operations of broadcasting in Nigeria by EFCC investigators. What happens in all cases of licensing in NBC, including the one to MTN, is that the licensee applies for the broadcast license it desires and is then put through the licensing process, which may or may not result in the eventual grant of the license, as the President must approve the license.
“The only difference with the case of MTN is that it had to satisfy the conditions established through the special auction process first and foremost, before being invited to apply. Yes, MTN applied for its license – like all other licensees. However, since it took part in the special auction process, its application was triggered by its success in making the highest bid in the sum of $171 million USD, which the then Members of the Commission accepted and directed the DG of NBC to invite MTN to apply for the license accordingly. Spectrum is ONLY allocated post licensing, and is meant to enable those operations for which the licensee is authorized to engage in its broadcast license”.
“Given how unrealistic and confounding this claim by the EFCC is, all our clients would like to state here is that in the course of deliberations when the approval was sought from the then Members of the Commission for MTN to be awarded the license, as the highest bidder in the special auction, they had sighted a bid offer from MTN. Now, our clients are curious once again, why it is relevant to claim the absence of a fact in the transactional history of this project. And who is making this claim?
“If the EFCC was interested in verifying their claim in this regard, all it needed to have done would have been to ask MTN if it made a bid offer in the sum of $171 million to NBC in the special auction process, or ask NBC to submit any such bid offer from MTN. And this simple and straightforward inquiry would have put paid to this unfortunate but embarrassing position taken by the EFCC that there was no auction. The President approved a special auction process for this transaction, and that is what the NBC conducted”, they further clarified.
It will be recalled that the Members of the Commission of the NBC were disengaged when boards of Federal Government Agencies and Parastatals were dissolved, July 2015.
SEYI ANJORIN
