MEETING YOU: Explosive! DG NCC Given Ultimatum To Quit Within 2...

MEETING YOU: Explosive! DG NCC Given Ultimatum To Quit Within 2...: A civil society and anti-corruption group, Peace & Development for Africa Initiative (PDAI) has given the Director-General of the ...

“the matter
of our DG is a basket case. He is leaking in every direction. Very soon, there
will be no water left. I don’t know who can save him. The truth is that the
evidence against him is overwhelming”.

Explosive! DG NCC Given Ultimatum To Quit Within 24 Hours Over Alleged Huge Corruption

A civil society and anti-corruption group, Peace & Development for Africa Initiative (PDAI) has given the Director-General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), Mr. John Ohireime Asien, an ultimatum to resign his position within 24 hours from the 31st of January 2020 or face prosecution.

This is contained in a letter written on behalf of the group by their lawyers, Abuja based Kaman Solicitors and signed by one John Obor, which was served on Mr. Asein on Friday, January 31, 2020.

In the letter, www.beats-onit.com can exclusively reveal, that the DG was warned that if he did not immediately resign and refund the money allegedly stolen by him, the group would without any further recourse to him, head to court in search of justice against him. Already, a copy of the Originating Summons to be filed at the Federal High Court Abuja, against Mr. Asein and several other officers of the government has been forwarded to Mr. Asein.

The allegations against Mr. John Asein include that after he retired from the Federal Civil Service as a Director on December 31, 2015, Mr. Asein for months, “illegally, unlawfully and fraudulently” continued to draw unearned salaries as if he was still a public officer. In the letter by Kaman Solicitors, Mr. Asein was told that his actions “in connivance with one Sylvester Aigboman, the salary desk officer of Nigerian Copyright Commission is tantamount to broad day robbery and a calculated attempt to unlawfully deplete Nigeria’s commonwealth in breach of Civil Service Rules and the NCC Act”

Another of the many allegations is that at the same time that Mr. John Asien has been in his current position as the Director-General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission, he maintained another position as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Reprographic Rights Society of Nigeria (REPRONIG), and has remained sole signatory of the bank accounts of REPRONIG, a copyright collective management organization regulated by the NCC from which Asein has been signing out donor dollars in significant amounts.

Mr. Asein, stated the letter, has at the same time been the Chief Executive Officer of both the regulatory agency and the regulated organization, a bizarre case of conflict of interest!

Mr. Asein is also immersed in a scandal over how the whopping sum of N105 Million was spent on the recently held 30th Anniversary celebration of the NCC when the commission says it has no money to fight the massive piracy of the works of Nigerian artistes, film makers and authors, the very reason the commission was set up.

Recently, another scandal broke out at the NCC over a contract signed by Mr. Asein with the French donor agency, AFD and a Lagos based firm of solicitors in respect of millions of Naira said to be for the study of the operations of copyright collective management organizations in Nigeria. Nobody on the Board of the NCC, the Ministry of Justice that supervises the NCC or the management of the NCC appears to know the criteria for awarding the contract or how much is involved. Only Mr. John Asein who claims to be a pastor, knows the details of the agreement.

A senior official at the NCC who wants to remain anonymous told www.beat-sonit.com, “the matter of our DG is a basket case. He is leaking in every direction. Very soon, there will be no water left. I don’t know who can save him. The truth is that the evidence against him is overwhelming”.

www.beats-onit sought Mr. Asein’s reaction to the allegations through WhatsApp and phone call Tuesday afternoon. He stated that as a public servant, he could not react without reference to his supervisory ministry, adding that it could not be before he saw the specific allegations.

Said Asein: You know as a public servant I won’t be able to react without reference to my supervisory Ministry and not before I see the specific allegations. Please I hope you do understand”.

COSON ‘CRUSHES’ MCSN AT THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT

The attempt by Musical Copyright Society Nigeria (MCSN) to be joined in the class action suit brought by COSON against the broadcast industry in Nigeria was dealt a deadly blow this Tuesday, December 10 2019 as Justice A.M. Liman of the Federal High Court, Lagos, dismissed the MCSN application for joinder, describing MCSN as “a restless interloper and a vexatious intervener”

It will be recalled that COSON on the 27^th of March, 2019 brought a class action suit against all broadcasting stations in the country who have continued to deploy musical works and sound recordings in the COSON repertoire without obtaining a COSON licence or paying any copyright royalty to the nation’s frontline CMO for musical works and sound recordings.

The Principal issue raised by COSON in its Originating Summons is whether a letter by the Nigerian Copyright Commission to COSON dated 30^th of April 2018 or any other such letter or statement, in the context of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, avails the broadcasting stations the right to compulsorily acquire the use of the intellectual property in the repertoire of COSON without obtaining any license or paying any royalty to COSON.

Shortly after the processes in the class action suit were published as directed by the court, MCSN brought an application to be joined in the suit, describing itself as an interested party. 

In her affidavit opposing the application of MCSN to be joined, the COSON General Counsel, Miss Simi Wash Pam, deposed to the fact that MCSN is not a broadcaster and is not a member of the class already certified by the court.

She said that the subject matters of the suit are musical works and sound recordings the copyright of which is owned by any member of COSON, assigned to COSON or managed by COSON by reason of any reciprocal representation agreement with COSON and that the suit has nothing to do with musical works or sound recordings owned by anyone else including MCSN. She was emphatic that MCSN is not an interested party in the suit but a meddlesome interloper seeking to join the suit with the intent of scuttling it.

Miss Wash-Pam concluded that the application of MCSN to be joined in the suit was brought in bad faith and asked the Court in the interest of justice to deny the MCSN application.

Reacting to the decision of Justice Liman, COSON lawyer, Mr. James Ononiwu of Whitedove Solicitors, who was in court when the decision was read, described Justice Liman’s reasoning as “sound and in line with common sense, the rules of court and a litany of decided cases”. He, once again, cautioned anyone intent on messing around with the constitutional rights of COSON and its members and affiliates that COSON will take on such a person “totally, completely, comprehensively and without any fear whatsoever”.

FOR COSON:

THE 2019 COSON IN THE CHURCH WAS A BLAST!

Nigeria probably has never seen a red carpet set up like the one at Revival Assembly in Ikeja on Sunday December 1 for the much talked about COSON in the Church. The expansive and breath-taking red carpet lined up with flowers and a big bar for cocktails and finger foods was the cynosure of the eyes of all those who came from far and near for the show everyone has been talking about. The hostesses were simply strikingly beautiful.

Throughout the red-carpet ceremonials, the amazing violinist, Emmaolin,easily Nigeria’s best, on a special stage set up for him poured sweet music from the heavens on the multitude who had come to share in the experience of an event like no other. It was breath taking! The cameras and paparazzi went gaga to capture the moment in history. Everywhere you looked, the sophisticated COSON branding stared back at you.

At the main auditorium, the lights dimmed, and the mega screen came alive and lo and behold, Chief Tony Okoroji, the man who conceived and made the show happen, was brought into the hall on a beach bike and the audience roared. COSON in the Church was on!

What followed was a relay of exotic performances by Nigeria’s most talented gospel artistes. Mike Aremu was stylish and exceptional and showed why he is considered one of Africa’s best saxophonists.The brilliant choreography of AsuEkiye, the generalissimo of Gospel music, also called the Prince of the Niger Delta,brought out many-many white handkerchiefs that swung in the air and kept everyone grooving and grooving nonstop. Righteousman, the reggae star, had a performance no one who saw him on stage at Revival Assembly will ever-ever forget. He was in complete control of both his band and the audience and everyone swung to him.

If you missed the performance of Tosin Bee, the young gospel music firebrand, then you truly missed. He had the audience eating off his hands in his special call and response act. Word-to-God took the audience through an amazingmedley of songs with their out of sight harmonies rooted in the world- famous negro spirituals mixed with a South-Eastern Nigeria flavor.

And so COSON in the Church rocked and rocked with the gospel highlife music of the beautiful IbitayoJeje, the sonorous voice of Essence and the sweet performance of IghosaObaro.

There were special prayers by different pastors for the growth of the music industry and the Nigerian nation. A thunderous prayer by Pastor TimiOshikoya popularly known as Telemi was captivating 

The high point of the event may be the unforgettable prayer by Apostle Anselm Maduboko, General Overseer of Revival Assembly churches who hosted the music industry to the talk-of the-town event. The man of God was emphatic that by giving special recognition to God, COSON will survive every plan of the enemy and grow from strength to strength to become an even stronger player in the Nigerian nation. Present at the event were many artistes, old and young including the beautiful gospel singer, Ayo Vincent and Dr Funmi Argbaye, National President, Gospel Musicians’ Association of Nigeria (GOMAN). For much of the evening, there was a repeated chorus by the congregation of the famous COSON slogan, “Let the music pay!”

From the beginning to the end, the 2019 COSON in the Church was a blast and an unforgettable event emceed by the vivacious Kenny Saint Brown who brought the event to a close with an electric performance of her own.

FOR COSON: