The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, yesterday announced that it has remitted up to N49.7 billion in the first four months of 2018 in compliance to the fiscal responsibility Act. The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007 (FRA 2007), was passed into law in 2007 and amended in 2011. The law serves to protect against financial ‘rascality’ and reckless spending by government. Section 22, Sub section 1 of the Act states that “Notwithstanding the provisions of any written law governing the Corporation, each Corporation shall establish a general reserve fund and shall allocate thereto at the end of each financial year, one fifth of its operating surplus for the year”.
Section 22, Sub section 2 of the Act says: “The balance of the operating surplus shall be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Federal Government not later than one month following the statutory deadline for publishing each Corporations Account”. Specifically, the NCC said it remitted N49,792,870,113.00 (Forty-nine Billion, Seven Hundred and Ninety-two Million, Eight Hundred and Seventy Thousand, One Hundred and Thirteen Naira Only) to the Federal Government Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) within the first four months of 2018. This figure, according to the commission, represents “Payment on Account” in respect of operating surplus for the year 2018.
Director Public Affairs of the commission, Mr Tony Ojobo, said that “the Act makes it mandatory that such payments are to be made every year after preparation of Audited Accounts. “However, the NCC has taken the initiative to be making payments on the Account as it generates revenue. The funds remitted are besides Spectrum Assignment fees which are remitted 100 percent to the Federal Government in line with Section 17, Sub section 3 of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA 2003)” he added. The section states that “the Commission shall pay all monies accruing from the sale of Spectrum under part 1 of Chapter VIII into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CFR)”.
