The Senate committee on Information and National Orientation chaired by Engr. Senator Kenneth Eze has informed Director- General of National Broadcasting Commission that there would be a conflict of interest if NBC is to turn into a media player in order to regulate the industry.
This position came to the fore on Wednesday when the NBC DG ,Charles Ebuebu appeared before the committee for a budget presentation where he averred that in order to regulate the industry , they have to procure state of the art equipment in order to be up to date and properly regulate the media space.
But during the question and answer session, the committee wondered how that will be possible without a conflict.
In his remarks, the Chairman expressed his concerned over lack of timeline to the projects proposed for execution and the huge amount of money that is invoved.
On the issue of the digital switch over, the chairman wondered why the target seems to always be shifted forward, but hinted that Nigeria can not compete globally due to the analogue mode of transmission.
He however said that, due to the importance of the broadcast industry for national cohesion and information dessimination,as well as not to run foul of ITU which Nigeria is a signotory to, there is urgent need to go digital in order to meet up with the global trend.
Speaking about the capacity of Mr Charles to deliver on his mandate, Sen. Eze expressed confidence in him, but admonished him to go back and rework the budget indicating time lines and other details that were not provided for subsequent re- presentation to the committee.
