MOPPICON Bill ready for Senate’s nod —Adeyemi

There has been feelers that the draft of the Motion Picture Practitioners  Council Of Nigeria (MOPPICON) bill is now set to receive the nod of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) as the process of its passage into law by the Senate commences.

This disclosed by the Minister of Information, Culture And Tourism, Alhaji Lai Mohammed through his Special Assistant on Media, Mr Segun Adeyemi during the week.

The bill, which is supposed to regulate, administer and control the movie industry, had gathered dust for a long time in the government house during the Obasanjo administration and as far as 2003.

The present government whose drive was to consolidate on the gains of the impact of  Nollywood on the economy and image of Nigeria, decided to fast track the passage of the MOPPICON bill into law, by inaugurating the 17- member ministerial committee led by Ms Peace Anyiam Osigwe, the coordinator and assisted by Mr Mahmood Ali-Balogun who’s the deputy coordinator.

The committee had long completed the assignment which was to review and harmonise the MOPPICON bill, removing the grey areas ahead of its submissions to the Ministry of Justice.

Adeyemi, in a phone call put to him by a source in a national newspaper, stated that the passage of the bill into law was in progress as the legal department of the ministry had worked on the bill and sent to the Attorney General of Federation.

He also disclosed that what remained was the Federal Executive Council to meet on the bill and approve its passage to the senate.

The bill had generated mixed feelings and discontent among stakeholders in the motion picture industry as some had cried foul over the inability of the ministerial committee to take the draft to different stakeholders in the movie industry.

Adeyemi noted that public hearings will be made on the bill at the Senate and all aggrieved stakeholders could present their case.

“The bill draft is about to be sent to the Senate as our legal department has received and worked on it and sent to the Attorney General. The FEC still needs to meet on it which is the last approval and then, send to the Senate. We assure stakeholders that the bill is aimed at representing the interests of the majority,” he stated.

The 17-member Committee inaugurated in April 2016 include the representatives of the various guilds and associations, including the Association of Movie Producers, Director Guild of Nigeria, Motion Picture Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN) as well as the Producers and Marketers Association of Nigeria (FVPMAN).

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