CROOKED SERPENT: DELTA STATE TV BOSS OMONODE ALLEGEDLY LOOTS FUNDS BELONGING TO THE STATION, LEAVING IT IN A STATE OF COMATOSE

Secret Reporters

The General Manager of Delta Broadcasting Service (DBS) Warri Tunde Omonode Igrammar, has proven to be corrupt indeed as his prowess in the art of looting cannot be rivalled by any with the comatose state of the once loved broadcast station located in the heart of Warri standing as evidence.

According to a petition obtained by SecretReporters written by the Radio Television Theatre & Arts Workers Union of Nigeria (Rattawu) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to the State`s House of Assembly, it was revealed that Tunde Omonode who was appointed in 2012 by the erstwhile governor of the state Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan with the hopes that he will use his wealth of experience in taking the station to greater heights has allegedly turned into a looter and a spendthrift who allegedly loots and embezzles funds meant for the administration and development of the station with impunity.

Despite the huge budgetary provisions by the Honourable House to DBS Warri through the State Ministry of Information and the millions of Naira accruing to the station from time to time by way of internally generated revenue, the General Manager allegedly in collaboration with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information as well as the HOD Accounts/Finance Mrs. Augusta-Gold Okoro pose as the cabals to divert these funds to personal accounts.

It was gathered that the General Manager popularly called “Pharoah” by the rank and file of the station, in showing total disdain for the extant laws guiding his appointment employed family members and relatives into all financial positions in the station with Mrs Augusta as the commander in thief which has made all financial payments to be made into his account directly.

The labour unions who wrote the petition lamented the monumental looting and embezzlement of funds by the DBS boss, which has left all equipment in the station needing maintenance or replacement unattended to. Staff members have no choice but to always rent cameras and other working tools from small private business operators when there is a need for production to be made.

The studio which had state of the art broadcast facilities prior to the appointment of the spendthrift has also been transformed into an oven as there are no more functional air conditioning systems in the studios and other offices which has in turn greatly reduced the life span of the multi-million Naira equipment installed in the studio by the state government.

As though on a mission to leave the station in ruins, the petition also revealed that thunderstorms have become a dreadful sight as there can be no broadcast activities because of the absence of thunder arrestors or resistors in the station resulting in epileptic broadcasting during rainy seasons due to the many years of negligence by the General Manager.

Furthermore, the station which is currently “running on life support” cannot compete favourably against other private owned broadcast stations in the state as they cannot broadcast beyond 12 am whereas other stations in the state operate a 24hours broadcast service resulting in massive revenue generation running into millions of Naira for them which could have gone into the treasury of the state government.

There are calls by the union and staff members of the station for the Chairman House Committee on Information Delta State House of Assembly, to immediately expedite actions for the removal of the General Manager Tunde Omonode Igrammar as his tenure has long elapsed and a subsequent probe of his activities alongside the supposed cabal.

All calls placed to Omonode were not picked. This is not the first time he will refuse picking calls to confirm or deny a report.