Adeola faults minister of finance over approval of NCC budget
Olorunfemi Ojo
Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Communications, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, representing Lagos West Senatorial District on the platform of All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday faulted moves by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, to approve the budget of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC.
According to him, the proposal of the minister to vet the income and expenditure of NCC was a breach of Section 25(2) of the NCC Act.
Senator Adeola, in a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Chief Kayode Odunaro, as a reaction to the briefing of the minister after the first Federal Executive Council meeting in the year, said that the Minister was wrong on her submission that Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, among other revenue generating agencies should submit their “budgets for approval”.
He added that any attempt by the Finance minister to approve the budget of NCC in particular would amount to a breach of the law and an encroachment on the function and power of the national legislature.
Senator Adeola noted that under the NCC Act, only the National Assembly was empowered to consider and approve the budget of NCC.
His word: “I am surprised that the ministerwas quoted as including NCC among other agencies required to submit budgets for her and other supervising ministers to approve. As well intentioned as this may seem in the effort to generate revenue and block leakages, it is a flagrant contravention of the NCC Act as well as usurping the power of the National Assembly to approve the budget of NCC”.
Referring the minister to Sections 17-21 of the NCC Act that dwells on the financial provisions for NCC, Adeola said that the only fund NCC was mandated to pay to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation is “all monies accruing from the sale of spectrum” as contained in Section 17(3).
