The Director-General of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Mallam Balarabe Ilelah, and the Registrar/Chief Executive of Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, recently paid a courtesy visit to the Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, at the EFCC Headquarters in Abuja.
At the event, both men solicited the support of EFCC in sanitising the media/advertising industry and eliminating the iniquitous activities of some operators in the sector, which have been crippling its development and growth.
The DG of NBC stated that the fraudulent activities of some stakeholders and huge advertising debt have generated concerns as these have created operational challenges for the industry.
Most media houses are crippled operationally as obtaining credit under false pretence and other fraudulent activities of some stakeholders are endangering the growth of the industry.
The APCON Registrar noted that the intervention of the EFCC is strategic to the success of the ongoing industry reforms. He further noted that such intervention would eradicate financial corruption and unethical practices in the industry.
The Registrar seeks the partnership of EFCC to provide financial security for the advertising industry against all forms of financial crimes as these inhibit the growth of the advertising industry.
While reiterating the commission’s zero tolerance to corruption and financial crimes in the country, the chairman of EFCC pledged the commission’s commitment to supporting the advertising industry and indicated that two desk offices would be created in Abuja and Lagos by the commission for the industry intervention.
He enjoined the two agencies (NBC and APCON) to come up with a detailed proposal on the intervention of EFCC including framework and scope of intervention.
