Thomas: denies allegations of corruption

Mr Adedayo Thomas, the Executive Director, National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) on Saturday dismissed allegations of corruption levelled against him in some on line media platforms.

According to the online reports, some staff of the board are not happy with the activities of Thomas who assumed office as Executive Director of the board on March 31, 2017.

The reports said that the disgruntled staff had written a petition to anti-graft agencies and relevant supervising authorities, accusing Thomas of financial malpractices, maladministration and abuse of office.

It said that all the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), overhead and capital fund received last year running into over N150 billion were siphoned through his cronies and fake field operations.

The embattled Chief Executive of the board however dismissed the allegations in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Saturday.

Thomas described the allegations as unfounded and calculated lies by desperate individuals to tarnish his imagine.

“My attention was drawn to an article by the Sahara Reporters and other media accusing me of multibillion-naira corruption within short time of my service to the board.

“Some have even reported that I was arrested without coming to hear from me, but I want to tell you that all the allegations are false.

“The total budget of the board for 2017 is N909 million, which is far less than the billions they mentioned, so I wonder from where that money came into the coffers of the board.

“When necessary, the relevant authorities have invited me and I have gone to clear myself, and I am still here doing the work government appointed me to do,” he said.

The NFVCB boss expressed dismay that the allegation was the hand work of some staff of the board that were not comfortable with his efforts at repositioning the organisation.

He added that on his resumption of duty as executive director, he insisted that things must be done right to reposition the board, “which did not go down well with some members of staff’’.

“On resumption after my appointment, I noticed that the NFVCB as the regulator of our motion picture industry was not where it ought to be, so I decided to clean it up.

“I expressed zero tolerance to corruption in all its forms, and also make some internal reshuffle within the workforce, which of course did not go well with some persons.

“Like they say, if you fight evil and corruption, they will always fight back, and that is what am facing here,” he said.

Thomas noted that within the short time he had so far spent at the board, there were visible changes as staff, industry players and relevant stakeholders were now proud of its activities.

“When I assumed office, there was no effective enforcement operations and today that has changed, I even go to the field on enforcement operations.

“Staff welfare, which was at zero level before I came, is now a topmost priority with two successful promotion exercises conducted under my wactch, and that has not happened for a long time.

“Officers at all levels now have the opportunity to attend film festivals and other relevant events that exposed to how the industry work at the global stage.

“My working relationship with the board council, management and other staff is cordial to the best of my ability, and I can say that NVFCB is doing well under my watch,” he said.(NAN)