The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) over the inadequate spread of telecommunication network services across the country. Lawmakers are questioning how the NCC has utilized the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), which is funded by an allocation of 2.5 percent of the annual turnover of mobile telecommunication operators as an annual license renewal fee.
At the plenary on Thursday, the House specifically resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to “investigate the failure/inability of the NCC to promote widespread availability and usage of mobile telecommunication network services throughout Nigeria, including the underserved and un‑served areas.” The panel is to report back within four weeks for further legislative action. A member of the House, Mark Gbillah, amended the motion to include an investigation of the accruals into and utilization of the USPF by the NCC since the fund’s inception. The amended motion was unanimously adopted.
Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, appointed a panel to carry out the probe. The panel consists of Messrs Bamidele Salam (Chairman), Jide Jimoh, Unyime Idem, Aisha Dukku, Sani Bala, Babajide Obanikoro, Abubakar Fulata, and Chinedu Ogah, together with the motion’s sponsor, Sergius Ogun. The urgent public‑interest motion was titled, “Need to Investigate the Non‑Provision of Mobile Telecommunication Network Services to the Underserved and Unserved Areas of Nigeria by the Nigerian Communications Commission Despite the Availability of Universal Service Provision Fund.”
While moving the motion, Ogun noted that Section 3 of the Nigerian Communications Act, Cap N97 (2004), established the NCC as the regulator of the communications sector. Section 4 of the same Act tasks the NCC with facilitating investment and entry into the Nigerian market for the provision and supply of communication services, equipment, and facilities. Section 112(1) empowers the NCC to design a system that promotes widespread availability and usage of network services throughout Nigeria, encouraging the installation of network facilities and the provision of services to institutions in unserved and underserved areas—known as the Universal Service Provision. A community reading of Sections 114 and 118 shows that the structure, governance, administration, and control of the USPF are to be determined by the NCC.
Ogun emphasized that, following the rapid expansion of the Global System for Mobile Communications in Nigeria, many mobile operators have been reluctant to move into rural areas due to business considerations. The Act empowers the NCC to receive 2.5 percent of operators’ annual turnover as a license renewal fee, which should be used to implement the Universal Access Strategy and Programme in line with federal policy (Section 4). However, the NCC has decided to contribute only 40 percent of the fund generated from this 2.5 percent levy—equating to 1 percent of operators’ annual turnover—to the USPF, a practice he said is common across Africa. The USPF is intended to build infrastructure in underserved and unserved areas, which can then be made available to mobile operators for service delivery.
Ogun further noted that the NCC’s first major infrastructure project under the USPF was the Emergency Response System, which led to the construction of emergency communications centers nationwide. Despite contracts worth millions of dollars and annual fiscal appropriations, the project yielded little result. The House is disturbed that the NCC’s inability to utilize the USPF to promote widespread network services and applications, as mandated by Section 112 of the Nigerian Communications Act, represents a great disservice to the nation.
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