The Nigerian Communications Commission has generated over N150 billion in revenue from spectrum licensing fees between January 1 and May 31, 2021.
This was contained in a statement issued by NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, on Sunday.
According to the statement, this amount surpasses its projected revenue of N36 billion by 400 per cent.
“The figure represents over 400 per cent increase in revenue budget performance in respect of spectrum fees generated by the Commission between January 1 and May 31, 2021, reflecting significant contribution to the revenue drive of the Federal Government.
“Accordingly, the N150 billion spectrum revenue achieved in the first half of the year has been remitted to the Federal Government in line with the provisions of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, which mandates the Commission to remit proceeds from spectrum resources wholly into the government’s Consolidated Revenue Fund.
“Commenting on the revenue performance, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, said that the impressive uptick in spectrum fee was the result of the favourable turn of events for the telecom sector, which at the time of preparing the estimates for the 2021 Budget of the Commission was not clear due to the ravaging impact of COVID-19 on the global economy.
“Danbatta noted that the 10-year spectrum fees made by some of the major operators directly impacted the projected spectrum fee favourably, adding that the Commission believes that enthronement of effective regulation will continue to improve the general performance of the telecoms sector,” the statement read.
