Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Management of Pinnacle Communications Limited has described as distortion of facts, its role by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) as regards the investigation of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) over the misapplication of 2.5 billion naira seed grant released to the agency by the federal government for its digital switch-over programme.
The Commission had said it has so far quizzed the Director General, Dr. Ishaq Moddibbo Kawu, and other top management staff of the agency over their alleged involvements in the misapplication of the fund.
In a statement by Dipo Onifade, the Chief Operating Officer (COO), said the organisation is forced to respond to set the records straight.
Onifade said, “In view of the references made to Pinnacle Communications Limited in connection with the investigation and the necessity of providing the correct account of the involvement of Pinnacle Communications Limited in the issues raised, which were deliberately omitted and/or distorted in the ICPC spokesperson’s alleged statement as widely reported in the media, we hereby state as follows:
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“Pinnacle Communications Limited is the only private licensed signal distributor for the Federal Government approved implementation of the Transition from Analogue to Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting in Nigeria in accordance with the 2012 Government White Paper section 11.2 (a) which approved that “more than one signal distributor be licensed in addition to NTA, the public licensed signal distributor. Another signal distributor should be licensed immediately.”
He said his organisation emerged successful bidder out of nine companies in 2014 after a rigorous public tender and full compliance with due process and it was licensed following payment of the stipulated fees to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), and not to Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation as alleged by the ICPC.
Onifade explained that, “Since then, Pinnacle Communications Limited has been a major facilitator of the Digital Switch Over (DSO) implementation process in Nigeria, notably as the broadcast signal distributor for the National Launch of the DSO in Abuja in 2016 at its state-of-the-art Broadcast Centre on Mpape Hill, performed by His Excellency, Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Company was also responsible for the Kaduna Digital Broadcast Signal Distribution Centre commissioned in 2017 by the Kaduna State Governor, His Excellency, Nasir Ahmed el-Rufai.
“This factual background to the involvement of Pinnacle Communications Limited in the DSO project in Nigeria is contrary to the alleged statements attributed to the ICPC spokesperson that the company was “fraudulently recommended to the Minister of Information and Culture for the release of N2.5 billion against the guidelines contained in the White Paper” and further reference to Pinnacle Communications as “an unqualified company.” The 2014 licensing of Pinnacle Communications in the DSO predates the appointment of the current DG of NBC in 2016.”
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He further explained that the DSO is all about the transition from Analogue to Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT).
“Broadcast Engineering is a field in which Pinnacle Communications Limited has earned recognition and patronage for more than two decades of expertise and dependability of world class service and installations across Nigeria.
“Neither the DSO nor Pinnacle Communications Limited has anything to do with “migration of telephone lines from analogue to digital platforms” as the ICPC spokesperson is alleged to have stated.
“Pinnacle Communications maintain that the facts and clarifications provided above sufficiently define the context and extent of its involvement in the implementation of the DSO program in Nigeria and the nature of its working relationship with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
“While noting that the ICPC spokesperson allegedly stated that the Commission was investigating “misapplication of N2.5 billion seed grant released to the agency (NBC) by the federal government for its digital switch-over programme” we wish to clearly emphasize that Pinnacle Communications Limited has not and cannot as a licensee of NBC trespass into the statutory functions of the NBC and/or the Federal Ministry of Information on the implementation of the DSO programme.
“To this extent therefore, all transactions between NBC and Pinnacle Communications have always been transparent and within the official approved operational guidelines and regulations as processed and executed by the NBC and in compliance with the terms and conditions of the license for signal distribution that Pinnacle Communications duly obtained.”