DSO: N10b was never housed in any private account –NBC DG

From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja

Director-General, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Balarabe Ilelah, has dismissed media reports alleging that N10 billion belonging to the commission was housed in a private account.

This was even as he said there was no time Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, gave him instructions to apply for the release of the funds.

Ilelah who spoke in Abuja, also dismissed reports of alleged rift between NBC and Minister of Information and Culture, saying the NBC never refused any instruction from Mohammed.

He said the alleged N10 billion was part of the money meant for payment to some NBC’s contractors involved in the issue of the Digital Switch Over (DSO).

He said  half of the money was paid to contractors and that it was supposed to be sent to the NBC, but following the directive of the Minister of Information and Culture, the money was sent to the ministry because there was no substantive Director-General in NBC at the time the money was released.

“The money was not housed in any private account. Not to my knowledge actually, because I can’t imagine somebody of the calibre of a minister that can send government’s money to a personal account. And it is not something that he can do alone. The money was not from the ministry. The money was from the Ministry of Finance. So, I doubt very much if the Ministry of Finance will agree to send that money to any private account.”

He also denied allegation that the money has yielded over N1 billion interest, saying it was fake news.