By Favour Goodness
A Non Governmental Organization(NGO); Traders Initiative for Social Development (TISD) has called on the House of Representatives to speed up the process and action on the proposed panel to probe MTN, AIRTEL, 9 MOBILE, GLO and other telecommunication operators’ annual levy to Nigeria Communications Commission NCC.
Loading ...In a recent press statement signed by the Publicity Secretary of the organization, Mr Ifeanyi Nwaudunna, the NGO maintains that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been asked to provide the information on the turnover of Telecom Operators to determine the actual levy they are supposed to pay to the Nigerian government.
AtlanticNewsonline gathered that for more than a decade, Nigeria has been losing over N2 Trillion annually from the levy (revenue) accurable to the country, from the service providers. The Telecom Operators had declared what they wanted to the NCC as their turnover with the compromise of some few staff of NCC, such as Mr. Gontor and others. Gontor is already under investigation over fraud.
Traders Initiative for Social Development referenced the report from the House of Representatives – Faleke committee, that Nigerian Communication Commission had proposed N82 billion as the revenue projection from the operating levy of the telecommunication operators submitted by the Commission against the actual expected over N2 Trillion revenue generation, if the automated system is deployed in the revenue calculation and payment.
According to the claims made by Hon. Soli (APC) Katsina through a thorough research and well prepared presentation to the House Committee on ICT, chaired by Hon. James Faleke, he revealed that service providers have been shortchanging the country by declaring whatever they wish as their revenue.
TISD asked the reps to mandate the Nigerian communication commission NCC with their proposed public-private partnership initiative program to deploy the automated system to calculate and collect the levy from the Network operators to meet up with over N2 Trillion which is the expected actual and due revenue accurable to the country from the two and half percent of Licensee’s(service providers’s) net revenue for the relevant period being his gross revenue.
Mr. Nwaudunna questioned the delay and postponement of deploying an automation system that ensures adequate and due revenue from the service providers to the country. As a matter of urgency and importance, Traders Initiative For Social Development called on the House of Representatives Committee on information communication tech (ICT) to expedite action and process on the proposed Probes on the services providers and NCC.
The planning of PPP public – private partnership initiative program to deploy system that will ensure due and actual revenue (levy) accurable to the country from the Telecom Operators are commiserate with their actual earnings.
Mr. Nwaudunna stressed that according to Section 3 of the NCC annual operating levy regulation provides that every Licensee that is a Network operator shall pay to the commission an annual operating level assessed at two and half percent of Licensee’s net revenue for the relevant period being his gross revenue.
According to the findings, the Telecom Operators will just declare a figure and determine what they want to pay and NCC ignorantly or compromisingly takes it and remit whatever they wish to the Federation Account.
Ifeanyi Nwaudunna added that the service providers generate their revenue through automated and electronic process, as key players in the information communications technology while paying Nigeria in manual system to rob Nigeria over N2 Trillion annually for more than a decade now.
