Media entrepreneur and EbonyLife Group founder, Mo Abudu, has rejected allegations that Nigerian cinemas deliberately sabotage certain films.
She explained that screening decisions are guided by audience turnout and business sustainability, not sentiment or favouritism.
Abudu made the remarks during an appearance on AriseTv News, where she joined actress Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde to discuss the growing controversy surrounding cinema practices in Nigeria.
The debate follows weeks of public complaints from Nollywood producers including Toyin Abraham, Niyi Akinmolayan, and Ini Edo, who accused cinemas of sidelining their films through poor screening times, limited daily slots, and alleged diversion of audiences to other movies.
Omotola acknowledged that such complaints have become widespread.
“I have heard these things. People have been saying this. Actors themselves have come out to say this has happened to them. And there are some fans too who corroborate these stories, confirming that some people convinced them to watch one movie apart from the movie they came to see,” she said.
Abudu’s Defence of Cinema Practices
Responding, Abudu stressed that while she could not speak for all cinema operators, she was confident the allegations did not apply to EbonyLife Cinemas, which she owns.
“I can’t speak for all the cinemas, but I can certainly speak for EbonyLife Cinemas — it’s not true. We run a professional business. Our return on investment depends very heavily on making sure that we have people sitting in every single cinema,” she explained.
She argued that it would make no commercial sense for cinemas to deliberately restrict screenings or discourage audiences.
“It is in our interest to ensure that every cinema is full. We have five cinemas in EbonyLife. We do about 30 screenings a day. That’s about 900 screenings in a month. There is plenty of space,” she added.
Abudu explained that screening times are adjusted depending on audience turnout.
“When your film is in our cinema and it has no audience, and I am running air conditioning and paying staff, and you only have two or three people in a 100-seater cinema, by the next week we are going to have a conversation. That time slot can no longer really work,” she said.
She emphasized that these decisions are not personal and apply to all producers. “There is no sentiment to anybody being in the cinema space,” she said.
To illustrate, Abudu referenced a film produced by her daughter, Temidayo Abudu, which was pulled from cinemas due to low turnout.
“My daughter had a film in the cinema last year. When it wasn’t performing, we had to move the film out. So there is no sentiment,” she explained.
“If I, Mo Abudu, make a film and we are not able to fill up the seats, it’s going to give way to the next film that can,” she added.
Industry Tensions
The controversy is rising from schisms between filmmakers and cinema operators, especially during December’s peak cinema season, when Nollywood releases compete for audience attention.
Toyin Abraham alleged that cinemas falsely declared her film Oversabi Aunty sold out and gave it poor screening times.
Niyi Akinmolayan accused some cinemas of collecting ticket money without showing his film Colours of Fire.
Ini Edo described her experience as exhausting, citing “gatekeeping and intimidation.”
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