Lai Mohammed denies FG’s plan to ban overseas production of films

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.”