Senate uncovers alleged multi-billion naira fraud in NTA NEWS

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Senate uncovers alleged multi-billion naira fraud in NTA

By AdvocateNews on 22/08/2020

The Senate Joint Panel on Finance and National Planning on Friday uncovered alleged multi-billion fraud in the Internally Generated Revenue of the Nigerian Television Authority.

The lawmakers uncovered series of alleged fraud going in the national television station during stakeholders meeting on MTEF/FSP 2021-2023, which the Director General of the NTA, Mallam Yakubu Mohammed, attended.

The troubled started after Mohammed concluded his presentation and the lawmakers asked him why he is blocking the registration of StarTimes with the National Broadcasting Commission.

But the Director General responded that NTA is not blocking the StarTimes from registering with the NBC, adding that the national television station has a joint venture agreement with StarTimes which is on 30 per cent and 70 per cent agreement.

The lawmakers, however, asked for the 30 per cent share of the NTA since the time the contract agreement was signed, which was not reflected in the documents submitted for scrutiny by the NTA.

The lawmakers were angry that the NTA decided to skip the revenue realised from the joint venture from the document submitted for consideration.

The Chairman of the Joint Committees, Senator Adeola Solomon Olamilekan, ordered Mohammed to provide details of all revenue sources, including those from the StarTimes agreement.

Olamilekan said: “We want you to give us detailed break down of all revenue sources.

“You have to include all joint ventures, which NTA has entered into, and debtors to NTA, including revenues generated through commercials and independent programmes.”

The NTA entered into the joint venture with StarTimes in 2010, with a sharing ratio of 70-30 in favour of the Beijing-based company.

Irked by NTA’s outing, the Senate Panel ordered that henceforth all revenue generating agencies of government should remit all their earnings into the Consolidated Revenue Funds, from which their cost of collection will then be given to them.

Posted 22/08/2020 06:00:03 AM

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