The House of Representatives has kicked against plans by the Nigerian Communications Commission, to commit N6 billion to the recently announced registration of mobile telephone subscribers.
The planned registration, announced early this year by the commission, mandates mobile phone service providers to document basic information on all subscribers to the different networks. The effort is targeted at curbing rising crime perpetrated by phone users who lack traceable data, the commissions said. On the first day of official consideration of the commission’s 2010 budget, which is usually treated separate from yearly federal budgets, lawmakers condemned the huge amount proposed for the exercise by the commission.
They questioned the need for the amount when such registration activities are to be carried out by the telecommunication companies. “There is no where in the world that a government regulatory agency would spend money on registration of SIM cards,” said the chairman, House committee on Business and Rules, Ita Enang. Members identified the huge allocation as a part of “inconsistencies” of the body which oversees the operation of all telephone service providers in the country. Some members spoke of lapses that bordered on unremitted funds generated by the commission although the House chairman, committee on communication, Dave Salako, denied that the commission has been withholding such funds from government.
“NCC is a revenue generating body, and it has not been remitting what it generated to the government, yet there is always huge amount for capital projects in its budget. There is need for us to look at those details this time around,” Leo Ogor, a member representing Delta state said.
Mr. Salako explained that his committee was yet to properly study the content of the proposed budget. “We have not analysed the budget to know if what they say they would spend the amount on is correct. We would look at those details, but we are all aware of the crimes being committed by 419 people because of non registration of SIM cards,” he said.
The consideration of the proposal, the last of such bodies to be considered by the national assembly, is coming after repeated rescheduling that has drawn deep into the present fiscal year.
The lawmakers said they will seek to more clarification to justify the spending or reject it at the committee level which the document was referred to yesterday.