Senate, Reps Committee pass NCC’s N549.6 billion 2024 budget

The joint Committee of the House of Representatives and Senate on Wednesday passed the sum of N549.6 billion 2024 budget for the Nigerian Communications Commission.

Members of Senate Committee on Communications chaired by Senator Ikra Bilbis representing Zamfara Central Senatorial District and those of the House of Representatives sought for explanation of the NCC’s 2023 budget performance.

The Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NCC, Dr. Maida having on the budget performance of the NCC, also spoke on daunting challenges facing the agency which he said, was insecurity.

Maida said, the NCC did well in revenue generation, data protection, noting that the 2024 would be much better given the commitment of the agency to generating revenue for the Federal government.

Dr. Maida informed lawmakers that the NCC aims to avoid relying solely on operator sanctions for revenue generation and is implementing measures to facilitate operators’ compliance with regulatory directives.

Reacting, Senator Steve Karimi representing Kogi West Senatorial District lauded the management of NCC for a detailed report which he said will assist the Committee in taking critical decisions as it will also reflect in report that will be submitted to the Committee of the whole.

Senator Ned Nwoko praised Dr. Maida’s impressive credentials and urged him to enhance the operations of the Agency.
Lawmakers also commended the Government Owned Enterprise for its prudent management of the 2023 revenue, capital, and recurrent expenditure.

He emphasized that NCC is collaborating with national security agencies to create a platform for tracking criminals and addressing security challenges.

The 2023 budget performance report revealed an actual revenue of N448.1 billion against a projected budget of N559.080 billion, with total recurrent expenditure at N67.072 billion and capital expenditure at N3.6 million.

The committee members unanimously approved the NCC’s N549.6 billion budget proposal for 2024 through voice votes, following a motion by Senator Tahir Monguno representing Borno North and subsequent ratification by committee chairman Senator Ikra Aliyu.

The report was expected to be submitted to the Committee of the whole in the Senate and the House of Representatives for legislative debate and final passage.