Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) Nigeria’s biggest
Copyright Collective Management Organization has called for the immediate
resignation of Mr. John OhiremeAsein as Director-General of the Nigerian
Copyright Commission (NCC)
At a very well attended World Press Conference held this Tuesday,
March 10, 2020 at COSON House, Ikeja, COSON said that If Mr. John Asein does
not resign, COSON is calling on the Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs.Folashade Yemi Esan, .the Chairman, ICPC, Prof.
Bolaji Owasanoye,the Attorney-General of the Federation, & Minister
of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami; Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee
Against Corruption, Prof ItseSagay, to ensure that Mr. Asein is suspended from
office, properly investigated and prosecuted
so that President Buhari’s anti-corruption stand is not seen by the
world as a joke.
According to Chief Tony
Okoroji who spoke on behalf of COSON, “if these Nigerians fail to take the
action which is their duty to take, we have lawyerswho are ready to obtain the
necessary fiat to forcefully prosecute Mr. Asein”.
According to Okoroji, after the founding fathers of the NCC
established this very important organization, it has been inflicted with very
bad and weakleadership. Unfortunately, rather than fight piracy of Nigerian
creative works and other types of copyright infringement for which the
organization was set up, it is the strongly held opinion of COSON that the NCC has
become a den of thieves and the crucible of scams. The interest of the NCC leadership
appears to be to grab all “grabables” from everywhere which is why they
descended ferociously on COSON”
According to Chief
Okoroji, when in January 2019, it was announced that
John OhireimeAsein had been appointed Director-General of the Nigerian
Copyright Commission, many hoped that the fortunes of the NCC would change and
the instability in the organization will come to an end. Unfortunately, that
hope has been dashed.
At the COSON conference,
it was alleged that there is ample evidence that John OhireimeAsein with IPPIS
No 101108 may have continued to collect salaries from the Nigerian Copyright
Commission several months into 2016 after retiring as staff of the commission
on December 31, 2015. It was alleged that there is evidence that for the months
of January, February, March and April 2016, Mr. Asein unlawfully earned income
of N502,271.00 in each of the months from the Federal Government. Stating that
the behaviour is clearly fraudulent and criminal Chief Okoroji said that Mr.
Aseindeserves to be fully investigated and if he is found liable, prosecuted.
It was also alleged that
there is ample evidence that Mr. Asein who from January 10, 2017 to January 8, 2019
held the position of Executive Director of Reprographic Rights Organization of
Nigeria (REPRONIG), a collective management organization regulated by the NCC
which it was said not be known to have ever distributed even one kobo to any of
its members or filed a proper audited account, has continued to act on behalf
of REPRONIG, write letters on behalf of REPRONIG while DG of NCC, manage the
funds provided by international donor agencies such as WIPO, IFFRO, NORCODE,
KOPINOR, etc., to REPRONIG and act as sole signatory to the REPRONIG UBA
account No 2004467988 and make payments on behalf of the organization, long
after assuming the position of Director-General of the Nigerian Copyright
Commission.
It was alleged that more
than one year after he assumed office as DG of the NCC, Mr.Asein is still
listed on www.repronig.ng, the website of REPRONIG, as Executive
Director of REPRONIG. Said Chief Okoroji, “in effect, Mr. Asein is at the same
time both the Head of REPRONIG, an organization regulated by the NCC and Head
of the regulatory agency, the NCC! This is a bewildering example of conflict of
interest with extensive consequences. There is no question that this deserves
to be investigated and the investigation must cover how the millions of Naira
in grants to REPRONIG by different donor agencies have been disbursed by John
OhireimeAsein, sole signatory to the REPRONIG account”.
It was further alleged
that at the same time thatJohn OhireimeAsein is a Public Servant, he is also a
Director of a private company known as Books & Gavel Ltd which is prohibited
under the Public Service Rules.
The conference was informed that there remains significant lack of
transparency in the controversial deal between the Nigerian Copyright Commission
(NCC), Agency Francaise De Development (AFD), IsiomaIdigbe’sPunuka Attorneys
and KPMG brokered by Mr. John Asein. Said Okoroji, “Unfortunately, nobody at
the NCC except Mr. Asein appears to have any full detail of the deal or the
money involved. This ought not be so as the NCC is a full-fledged commission of
the Federal Government with a Board and not the personal property of Mr. John
Asein. The answer to the question, how much is involved in the deal and who
received what from whom in this contentious deal, is still blowing in the wind.
It is the strongly held opinion of COSON that the NCC/AFD/Punuka/KPMG deal
needs to be investigated and the details uncovered”
Said Chief Okoroji, “on
these issues, there will be no retreat and no surrender. Let me state
unequivocally that we will deploy all the lawful resources available to us until
the whole world hears us and the issues raised here are addressed.
“We owe it to our
children” said the former President of PMAN.
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