NOSC Revote For No Nigerian Film To Be Considered For The Oscars 

Internal strife over its initial decision to not submit a film for the Academy’s IFF category has shaken the Nigerian Official Selection Committee (NOSC).

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

The Oscar selection committee for Nigeria has reiterated its position that no film should be submitted for the Academy International Feature Film category.

The committee voted 9-6 in favor of “preserving” the original votes from September 3, 2022, according to a leaked video from Thursday, October 20, 2022. Mahmood Ali-Balogun, the committee’s vice chairperson, Mildred Okwo, Shaibu Husseini, Ego Boyo, Moses Babatope, and Kenneth Gyang were among the committee’s 15 members who voted against it.

The voting procedure in September that resulted in the majority of the committee’s members voting against any of the three competing films—Kap Films’ “Anikulapo,” EbonyLife Films’ “Elesin Oba,” and Euphoria 360’s “King of Thieves”—has caused a serious internal problem.

Remember that the NOSC chairwoman, Chineze Anyaene-Abonyi, announced the committee’s “null” vote in a formal statement, a decision that some committee members contend was “predetermined” and did not have the support of all 15 members.

Recently, the Academy intervened in the dilemma by extending the submission deadline so that the committee members may meet again and perhaps conduct a second vote. A series of stunning charges of bribery and ferocious lobbying for “Elesin Oba” were identified in the long-deleted “leaked” film as the main causes of the present conflict.

At least three of the committee’s members have announced their resignation since the incident. Mildred Okwo, Shaibu Husseini, and Kenneth Gyang are among the group’s members.