EFCC logo (file image)
‘With the abrogation of tobacco advertising in the electronic and print media, and the EFCC closing down on Estate Developers, the film industry naturally becomes the next target for illicit funds’
The Economic snd Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has appealed to filmmakers to conduct due diligence before accepting funding for movie production.
The commission’s Chairman, Mr Olanipekun Olukayode, made the appeal at the National Film and Video Censors Board Round Table Forum with film Producers, Exhibitors and Distributors, titled, “Morality and Ethics in Film Production in Nigeria at the Second Lagos International Film and Cinema Convention.
In a statement issued by Ogbonna Onwumere, the
Director, Corporate Affairs, National Film and Video Censors Board, the chairman, who was represented by the Head, Public Affairs, EFCC, Lagos Directorate, Ayo Oyewole, challenged filmmakers to ensure that the film industry does not become a soft target for funds laundered illegally from outside the financial system.
His words: “Filmmakers must conduct due diligence on funds for their productions otherwise they act as courier for illicit funds.
“There is need for filmmakers to carry out know your customer test before accessing any funding.”
The Executive Director of the National Film and Video Censors Board, Husseini Shaibu, collaborated the claim by the EFCC.
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Husseini said, “With the abrogation of tobacco advertising in the electronic and print media, and the EFCC closing down on Estate Developers, the film industry naturally becomes the next target for illicit funds”.
Responding, the President of the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria, Mr Opeyemi Ajayi, told the EFCC that the request was difficult for the film industry to meet because the sector was private sector-driven.
“The film industry doesn’t receive any funding or grants from the government”, he said.
Another filmmaker, Teco Benson, shared the same sentiment, advising the EFCC to put money down for productions if they want certain films prodced or commission documentaries.
He said that the onus was on the EFCC to track the owners of the funds, while filmmakers were concerned on how to repay the funds advanced to them.
Oyewole however admitted that the EFCC did not provide funding for film prodctions and also had no say on the direction of the script, rather, “the EFCC is only appealing to filmmakers to change the narrative for the betterment of the economy.”
But Husseini adominished filmmakers to pay greater attention to the sources of funds for their film productions and the promotion of crimes in their films, noting that his only regret is that “the consequences of crime in some films are usually not commensurate with the crime committed by the antagonist in some movies”.
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