Encomium
‘I will send them to jail’ – ANCOP President, ALEX EYENGHO threatens
THE Special Fraud Unit (SFU) of the Nigeria Police have quizzed some Nollywood stakeholders over alleged squandering of the N50 million the Akwa Ibom State governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio donated as part of President Goodluck Jonathan’s grant for the industry.
Invited to their 13, Milverton Road, Ikoyi, Lagos office on Tuesday, September 2, 2013, for questioning were the President Association of Movie Producers, Nigeria (AMP), Mr. Zik Zulu Okafor; National President, Directors Guild of Nigeria (DGN); Chief Andy Amenechi and National Secretary, Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Abubakar Yakubu. Also expected to report to the police is star actress, Stephanie Okereke-Linus Idahosa.
Police sources informed ENCOMIUM Weekly that the trio were grilled all through the day and were only freed after they had made statements.
In a strongly-worded petition to the Commissioner of Police, SFU, Lagos, dated August 19, 2013, entitled ‘The Squandering by a cabal of the N50 million given to Nollywood by the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, His Excellency, Chief Godswill Akpabio: A Call To Save The Industry From Breakdown of Law and Order,’ Association of Nollywood Core Producers (ANCOP), an umbrella body for professional motion picture producers in Nigeria urged the police to investigate their allegation.
ANCOP specifically wants the police “to take immediate steps to halt this cabal from further decimating this goodwill and cash from Governor Akpabio on behalf of the good people of Akwa Ibom State.”
The association further averred: “We resolved to petition your reputable office as a result of the above subject matter. By way of background information: March 2, 2013, Nigeria’s President, His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, hosted Nollywood to a dinner at the State House, Marina, Lagos. At the event, Mr. President announced a N3 billion grant to boost the industry under a scheme currently tagged, Project Act Nollywood. The Ministry of Finance under the able leadership of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is currently managing this grant. At the event, one of the governors in the entourage of President Jonathan also announced a pledge of N50 million donation to Nollywood for the specific purpose of endowing prizes and award of excellence in the name of President Jonathan. The entire industry became excited and highly expectant.
On July 15, 2013, news broke out that some Nollywood stakeholders, under the auspices of a non-existent Guild of Nollywood Stars visited Governor Akpabio in his office in Uyo for the purpose of collecting the N50 million pledged to Nollywood. Members of the visiting group were Mr. Zik Zulu Okafor (President, AMP), Mr. Andy Amenechi (President, DGN), Mr. Abubakar Yakubu (National Secretary, AGN) and actress and member of AGN, Stephanie Okereke Linus-Idahosa. The governor presented to the visitors a prototype post-dated (25-06-2013) Zenith Bank cheque number 00063639 with Akwa Ibom State Government as the account name, issued in favour of Guild of Nollywood Stars. We also gathered that the governor in his usual generosity gave each of the visitors N500,000 as ‘Thank-You-For-Coming’ money.
Suspecting fraud, ANCOP immediately raised the red flag when it queried the use of non-existent Guild of Nollywood Stars to access the N50 million pledge by those who visited Governor Akpabio. We also queried the locus of the visitors to make the trip to Akwa Ibom without consulting with or getting the mandate of stakeholders in Nollywood. The mass media was awash with suspicion and protests from stakeholders in Nollywood. Their refusal to convene a meeting of all associations, guilds and other stakeholders in Nollywood, after collecting the prototype cheque further heightened the already tensed atmosphere in the industry. ANCOP on July 3, 2013, wrote a letter of inquiry via email on the matter to Mr. Zik Zulu Okafor and Mr. Andy Amenechi and copied other associations/guild presidents in Nollywood. No official reply came back to ANCOP.”
ANCOP informed the police that Zik Zulu Okafor and co have since transferred the funds to AMP account and allegedly plan to squander the same. “This is a public fund that must be accounted for. The fund is given for a particular purpose and not for sharing by or between associations and guilds. This cabal has perfected plans to use about N5 million to organize some funny awards in the name of President Jonathan or give same amount to select existing awards/festivals for the same purpose. The remaining N45 million would ultimately go into private pockets, as is the usual practice in the past. This must stop. Already, we reliably gathered that one of the visitors to Governor Akpabio is demanding about N8m as commission for being the contact person to the Governor!” ANCOP further alleged.
In conclusion, ANCOP demands that law enforcement agencies including the police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), should immediately commence a full-blown investigation into the alleged fraudulent acts over the N50 million Governor Akpabio gave to Nollywood to carry out a specific task but now domiciled in the account of one of the over 30 associations and guilds in Nollywood.
ANCOP also wants AMP’s account frozen until proper account of the money is rendered.”
And if however, the money is intact, ANCOP wants it transferred to the Project Act Nollywood for proper management so as to achieve the set objectives Governor Akpabio had in mind.
And in an exclusive chat with ENCOMIUM Weekly on Wednesday, September 4, 2013, the petitioner and ANCOP National President, Comrade Alex Eyengho vowed to bring the embattled Nollywood leaders to book.
“Justice must be done. We can’t continue like this. If they don’t handle this matter well, they will go to jail.”
Eyengho, who is also the Vice President of International Federation of Film Producers Association (FIAPF), also advised the ‘suspects’ to halt the imminent breakdown of law and order their action might necessitate, by doing the right thing.
But in a swift reaction to the allegation of fraud and petition at the SFU, respected film maker and AMP President, Mr. Zik Zulu Okafor, who spoke on behalf of the other accused, dismissed ANCOP and its leadership as an organization with less than five members. He boasted that he has a credible reputation no one can ruin with propaganda. Okafor, who admitted he was quizzed alongside Andy Amenechi and Abubakar, insisted that the N50 million Akpabio donated to Nollywood is being disbursed and managed judiciously. Reminded that the grouse of ANCOP is that the fund is being channeled to purposes not envisioned by the donor, Zik Zulu Okafor laughed it off, saying that ANCOP’s leader (Eyengho) would always oppose any initiative that does not accommodate his selfish interest.
He promised to make further clarifications on the issue at the appropriate time.
Also, reacting to their invitation by the police, AGN National Secretary, Abubakar Yakubu regretted that ANCOP would drag them to police over a non-issue. He said they were not arrested, but declined further comments. The AGN scribe, however, referred us to Zik Zuku Okafor.
Police have commenced investigations into the alleged squandering of Governor Godswill Akpabio’s N50 million largesse to Nollywood. A similar petition is also before the EFCC. There is, however, hope that Nollywood stakeholders would soon meet to resolve the crisis generated by the alleged misappropriation of the fund.
– UCHE OLEHI
