PEN Nigeria, a centre of PEN International headquartered in London, representing thousands of professional authors, has expressed its profound concern and outrage regarding reports that a significant, humongous amount of writers’ royalties was paid by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government to Repronig (Reproduction Rights Society of Nigeria), an entity that is not registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC).
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‎According to the writers’ body, its outrage and urgent demand emanate from the understanding that these funds, intended as royalties for authors running into billions of Naira, were directed toward Repronig, an entity lacking the legal standing to manage, collect, or distribute such royalties.
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‎PEN Nigeria further stated that all efforts made to contact Repronig and its management through their official contact information online hit a brick wall even as its physical office address, purported to be located at Plot 1, Block VII, Aleshinloye/ FRIN Road, Jericho Hill GRA, Ibadan, Oyo State, doesn’t exist.
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‎Pressing its demands further, PEN Nigeria poses the following questions to President Tinubu’s administration:
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‎”Why was a “humongous amount” of public funds paid to Repronig, an entity not registered by CAC and not recognised by any regulatory authority such as NCC?
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‎”What due diligence was performed by the government agency before issuing these payments?
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‎”How does the government intend to ensure that these royalties reach the actual Nigerian authors in PEN Nigeria, whose rights are protected by law?”
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‎Addressing journalists in Lagos, Toyin Adenubi, President of PEN Nigeria and an author, said, “We are appalled that our members’ hard-earned money is being handled with such reckless disregard.”
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‎Explaining that in legal jurisdictions, only registered Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) are authorised to collect royalties on behalf of multiple authors, she pointed out that paying an unregistered body like Repronig is a violation of established Copyright Acts and financial regulations.
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‎”If Repronig is not a properly registered Collective Management Organisation as our findings revealed, the government of President Tinubu must immediately halt all payments and initiate a full audit,” the President added.
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‎Also speaking in Lagos, Ralph Tathagata, the Secretary of PEN Nigeria, said, “Royalties are not discretionary funds; they are the earned income of writers, often representing the difference between financial stability and poverty.”
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‎Mr Tathagata, who is also a poet and practicing author, averred that diverting these payments to an unregistered and unknown entity with “unclear danger level” such as Repronig is a severe breach of the current administration’s fiduciary duty and an act of gross negligence that undermines the livelihood of PEN Nigeria members.
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‎While also calling for an immediate suspension of any further payments to Repronig, Mr Tathagata reiterated PEN Nigeria’s demand for a transparent investigation into the funds already disbursed, and the immediate release of these funds to members of PEN Nigeria as the legal owners.
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‎”We stand ready to cooperate with law enforcement and regulatory bodies to ensure that justice is served and that the rights of writers belonging to PEN Nigeria are protected,” he stated.
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‎PEN Nigeria is the Nigerian Centre of PEN International (International Association of Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists and Novelists) – a worldwide association of writers, founded in 1921, known to play a leading role in promoting literature as a force of global culture and defending freedom of expression and linguistic rights across the world. PEN Nigeria became affiliated to PEN International on 21 November 2001 at the Congress held in London.