Some members of the Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) and other ‘concerned’ stakeholders, have issued a 30-day ultimatum to COSON, demanding that they submit to an independent forensic audit by the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC).
This was contained in a statement dated Thursday and signed by the spokespersons of the group, Efe Omoregbe and Ibukun Ibidoye.
According to the statement, the refusal by COSON to submit to the audit by the NCC is “nothing but a shameless attempt to dodge the accountability the leadership owes members.”
The statement also dismissed COSON’s claim that the NCC lacks the power to restrict the power given to collecting societies by section 39 (7) of the copyright law, saying, “gazetted regulation is law and there has been no law declaring this to be in conflict with the constitution.”
It also demanded that COSON perform its statutory duty by investigating the allegations of mismanagement of funds leveled against its chairman, Tony Okoroji, and others.
The group also threatened to “set in motion the process of mass withdrawal of catalogues of its repertoire” unless the management of COSON complies with the directive of the NCC to submit its bank statements and books to the commission.
They also announced that they have withdrawn COSON’s right to represent them as a Collective Management Organisation (CMO) outside Nigeria with immediate effect.
COSON and the NCC have been in conflict over the role of the latter in the leadership tussle between Mr Okoroji and his opponent, Mr Omoregbe.
This led to Okoroji labelling the NCC ‘a monster’ and demanding the resignation of its Director-General, John Asein, at a press conference on March 11.
