The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has denied saying that the Federal Government will ban the overseas production of Nigerian movies and music. Mohammed noted this on Tuesday evening while reacting to an outcry by artistes over reports saying he hinted at the ban when he visited the headquarters of the Copyright Society of Nigeria in Lagos.
During a briefing at the end of a two-day Creative Industry Financing Conference, with the theme ‘Financing the Film, Television and Music Industries,’ held at Eko Hotels, Victoria Island, Mohammed said FG would not tamper with the aspirations and rights of the artistes and producers. He said:
“At COSON, I said that I would work to amend the National Broadcasting Commission’s code to ensure that if a product is designated a Nigerian product, it must be produced in Nigeria. I didn’t say that, henceforth, all music and films would or must be produced in Nigeria.
“All I said was that if a programme is designated as a Nigerian content programme, we will amend the code to ensure that it is produced in Nigeria. I didn’t say I’ll ban the production of Nigerian movies and videos overseas.”