Famed drummer and music producer, Richard Ayodele Cole, has called for a forensic audit of Musical Copyright Society Nigeria (MCSN) by a reputable audit firm. He has also requested the security and anti-graft agencies in Nigeria to conduct an open and transparent investigation into the sharing of the over Two Billion Naira collected by MCSN from Multichoice Nigeria.
In an explosive interview with www.beats-onit, Mr Cole, easily one of the music industry’s most respected elder statesmen said: “Musicians across the country are asking serious questions about what happened to the over Two Billion Naira Tee Mac and his MCSN gang extracted from Multichoice Nigeria in the name of music copyright royalties.
“How was the money shared? What are the names of the people who got money from the shake down? How much did each person get? Questions are being asked and Tee Mac & co seem to be scared.
“They are scared shitless. Nigerian musicians will not allow the matter to be swept under the carpet.
Everybody must come clean. There is no place to hide. At this time when Nigerians are protesting over the corruption of our political leaders, people are doing terrible things in our own industry. We are calling on the security and anti-graft agencies for an open and transparent investigation into the sharing of the Billion Naira shake-down of Multichoice”.
Speaking on the recent repeated attacks on COSON and COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji, by flutist, Tee Mac Isele, Richard Cole who is a member of the COSON Board, said: “I know that the scammers and ‘wayo’ people that operate in the creative industry, who want to feed where they did not sow, are scared of Tony Okoroji because of his insistence that the industry must be transparent, and not allowed to become a scammers’ paradise.
“There is nothing they have not thrown at him. They have used the Police, EFCC, DSS, NFIU and even NCC against Okoroji and the man has continued to stand firm.
“They froze his personal accounts and even tried to abduct him. Chief Okoroji has won more defamation cases in court than any other Nigerian living or dead. At a time, they demanded a forensic audit of COSON. Ok now. One of the most reputable audit firms in the world was invited to do the forensic audit. The firm spent seven months at COSON House, checking every book, every voucher, every transaction, every bank account, etc. At the end of the day, no fraud, misappropriation or embezzlement of any kind was discovered. COSON is the only organization in the history of the Nigerian creative industry to ever do a forensic audit.
“What is good for the goose is good for the gander. I am therefore demanding a forensic audit of MCSN and NCC by a reputable audit firm. The result will be interesting”.
