Admiral Dele Abiodun talks to RMT on the recent Lionel Richie's visit to Nigeria and Soludo, CBN governor's pronouncement on spraying of Naira notes

The Admiral Dele Abiodun-led PMAN is set to take legal action against organisers of the Lionel Richie show that recently held in Lagos.

For allegedly “smuggling” the American musician into the country, Abiodun said PMAN had instructed its lawyer,Barrister Fred Agbaje,to take action against the organiser for not informing PMAN of the artist's musical visit to Nigeria.

According to him, organisers deliberately kept PMAN out of the picture so they won't pay it the stipulated fees,” just as they did not feature the required number of local artists in the event.”
“We have rules as it concerns bringing foreign artists into the country for events.

“For long, PMAN had benefitted in ways from such international events,and for the organiser to just spring up with Lionel Richie out of nowhere is a shock. “Such events are used to promote our local artists,but nobody benefitted much from Richie's visit to Nigeria, except the organisers I guess.

“ We got to hear of the American's visit only a day before the event. They had something to hide.

Who do you intend to sue, the publishing company or the event orgarniser?
Thisday of course, we don't know of another organiser. Some publishers are not helping the industry by deliberating side-lining stakeholders when it comes to organising musical shows in this country. The standing directive is that anybody, no matter who, that wants to bring foreign musicians into this country must pay a certain amount to PMAN, just as it is compulsory that they feature at least four local artists, and equally pay them well. Thisday should have discussed with PMAN from the onset, but they didn't.

Back to PMAN.Would you say you've had a smooth running since you took over?
Truth is my tenure has not really started as far as the court sees it. Once the court gives a favourable ruling, that's when my tenure begins.

So, what are you now, an interim president?
That's why we've gone to court again seeking action against those parading themselves as PMAN executives. It is blatant contempt of court for Tee Mac to be parading himself as president as the court has ruled on that.Once the court finds him guilty of contempt,they will all be arrested.I'm not the interim leader,but the president.

Whether you're the interim president or the president...?
(Cuts in)In the face of the law,I am in control at PMAN.I have been since the court confirmed Fred Agbaje as PMAN's lawyer and Dele Abiodun as president ,until the court decides otherwise. These guys are impersonators.

Have you enjoyed being president with all these distractions?
Nothing distracts me. We have been working since October 6, 2007 when the court responded in our favour.

What if Tee Mac reaches out to you?
I'm not the only one he has to reach out to,I have a government and supporters from the states.He must reach out to PMAN, the states, etc, not me alone, and he must be ready to lay out his cards on the table.We all want peace, but I hate impersonators.

What do you expect from the court?
For all these impersonators to be jailed because they are not supposed to be at the official secretariat after the court's pronouncement. Once the court delivers judgement, they must vacate that office within 48 hours or find themselves in jail .

You really want to see Tee Mac in jail?
Are you telling me my people are not suffering, or have not suffered enough,since these imposters have been acting illegally on musicians behalf? With all the stealing going on there, do you expect me to keep quiet? Billions of naira have been taken out of our hands without our own making and the industry has remained stagnant.You bet I want to see them all in jail.

What's your take on Soludo's position on the spraying of naira notes at events?
Abeg don't go to that area,Soludo does not know what he's talking about. His parents and fore-fathers must have sprayed an artist at one time or the other.What's the CBN governor thinking about the over two million members,families,hangers-on of musicians? If Soludo is truly interested in us,he should have called the stakeholders and we would have proffered an alternative. We pay taxes and we are professionals.Taxes are collected for every album, cassette and CD we make.W e won't fold arms and allow Soludo to send us back to the village.The directive is insulting and annoying because what he's really saying is that he wants more criminals in the society.And by the time this happens, Soludo himself will have forgotten he's the cause of all the problems that'll result from his directive. Spraying is not an abuse,its a tradition.He just wants his boss to think he's doing something, whereas lots of money have been diverted through this directive.

How?
The adverts on radio, television and papers are they for free? If he wants to stop the abuse of naira, he should go to the abattoirs, garages, food vendors etc., not musicians. In fact, has he ever seen a musician sprayed dirty notes? No. We are sprayed crispy notes, not dirty notes.