NCC boosted Federal Government revenue by N344.71 billion in 5 years

The NCC said it contributed to the revenue drive of FG by generating and remitting N344.71 billion to the CRF in the last five years.

Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has disclosed that the telecoms agency contributed to the revenue drive of the Federal Government, by generating and remitting N344.71 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) in the last five years.

The disclosure was made in a press statement by Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, while briefing the House Committee on Telecommunication – led by Hon. (Prince) Akeem Adeyemi, during a legislative oversight function on the Commission in Abuja.

Prof. Danbatta told the Committee how the telecoms agency contributed to the revenue drive of the Federal Government by generating and remitting N344.71 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) in the last five years.

What they are saying

Prof. Danbatta attributed the success of the Commission in the last five years to the harmonious relationship between the Commission and the National Assembly.

“Through the support of the lawmakers, especially the House of Representatives Committee on Telecommunications, which the NCC leadership has worked with in the last five years; the Commission has been able to generate and remit N344.71 billion to the Federal Government Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) from spectrum fees and operating surplus.

“Between 2015 and September, 2020, active voice subscription has increased from 151 million to 205.25 million with a teledensity standing at 107.53 percent as at end of September, 2020.

“We are also empowering and protecting the consumers and ensuring we are able to sanitize the industry of improperly registered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards, through our impartial regulatory approach.”

The fact behind the figures

• According to the report from NCC, the telecoms sector’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased from 8.5% in 2015 to 14.30% as of the second quarter of 2020.
• In monetary terms, the 14.30% translates to N2.272 trillion in Q2.
• The telecoms investment grew from around $38 billion in 2015 to over $70 billion in 2020.
• In like manners, the NCC has been able to increase broadband penetration from 6% in 2015 to 45.43 per cent as of September, 2020
• Basic active internet subscriptions grew from 90 million to 143.7 million.

To continue to collaboratively advance the development of the industry, Prof. Danbatta listed key areas of collaboration with the House Committee.

These, according to the EVC, include speedy passage of the Commission’s budget, enhancing the mutual working relationship and knowledge transfer sessions/capacity-building for Committee members for better understanding of the workings of the Commission and the industry.

Speaking further, Prof. Danbatta said the NCC is promoting financial inclusion by encouraging the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to actively participate in providing financial services towards actualizing FG’s 80% financial inclusion target by 2020.