Nigerian media mogul and philanthropist Mosunmola “Mo Abudu” Abudu has responded to allegations that cinema owners show bias by giving preferential screening slots to certain films.
In December 2025, PREMIUM TIMES reported that actors and filmmakers, including Femi Branch, Niyi Akinmolayan, Toyin Abraham, Ini Edo, IK Ogbonna, and Mercy Aigbe, among others, accused some cinemas of discouraging audiences from watching their movies.
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The actors further alleged that some cinema staff openly promoted specific films by wearing branded merchandise, a practice they said undermined neutrality and encouraged favouritism within cinema halls.
Mo Abudu, 61, addressed the claims during an episode of “Perspectives” on Arise TV, where actress and singer Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, her fellow guest on the programme, remarked that preferential treatment does exist within the cinema system.
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Clarifying the allegations, Mo Abudu, the chief executive officer of EbonyLife Media, a media conglomerate with cinema, said film screening schedules are determined strictly by return on investment.
Professional business
The mother of two said, “It’s not true for everybody. I can’t speak for all cinemas in Nigeria, but I can certainly speak for EbonyLife Cinemas. We run a professional business. Our return on investment depends heavily on ensuring we have people in every seat in every cinema. It is in our interest to ensure that the cinemas are full. If you take, for example, we have five cinemas at EbonyLife. We do six screenings a day. That’s 30 screenings, a day times 30 days in a month. That’s 900 screenings. There is plenty of space.
“Now, even if you’re saying, oh, some people prefer to have peak hours, 50% of that is 450 screenings. One movie can’t dominate 450 screenings in a month. We need to break this down so everybody understands that there is enough room for all major films to be seen. Now, when your film is in our cinema, and if it has no audience, and I’m running air conditioning, and I’ve got staff to pay. And you only have two or three people sitting in a hundred-seater cinema. By next week, we’re going to have a conversation about the fact that your movie can no longer really have that time anymore.”
Seat fills up
Additionally, she said audience turnout played a crucial role in determining a film’s screening schedule.
According to her, if audience numbers for a particular film were not encouraging, it would be withdrawn from cinemas, regardless of who produced it.
“There’s no sentiment to anybody being in the cinema space. There’s none to her, to Moses, to me, to my daughter. I had a film released last year. When it wasn’t performing, we had to say we had to move that film out. So there’s no sentiment.
“This is about making sure that we have a return on investment. It does not matter who owns the film. If I, Mo Abudu, make a film and we’re not able to fill up the seats, it’s going to go to the next film that can. It is as simple as that”, said Mo Abudu.
Strategies
The media mogul further maintained that what many people often describe as cinemas showing favouritism towards certain actors may actually stem from meet-and-greet sessions organised around such films.
She also noted that many filmmakers produce movies without making sufficient effort to market or promote them.
“All of them will have a meeting. For example, if I bring out my next movie, the actors can say, “Today, we’re going to go to Ikeja.” Tomorrow, we’re going to go to Ikoyi. The next day, we’re going to go to Ibadan. And you legally hold a meet-and-greet in those cinemas.
“And sometimes that can be construed by others as, oh, you’re trying to sell this movie versus that movie. But many filmmakers aren’t marketing their films effectively. They’re not. They’re making films, and there’s no marketing of the film,” she said.
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