The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said on Tuesday that the lack of patronage for its auctioned frequencies was responsible for the failure to meet the N387 billion revenue target for 2023.
The commission’s Director of Financial Services, Yakubu Gontor, disclosed this when he appeared before the Senate Joint Committees on Finance, Appropriations, National Planning, and Local and Foreign Debts, considering the 2024–2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).
NCC, according to Gontor, had earned N199.8 billion out of its N387.4 billion revenue projection for 2023 as of September.
He explained that two frequencies—600 megahertz (MHz) and 35 megahertz (MHz)—were made available for auction but there was no patronage for either of them.
The director said this significantly affected the revenue generation of the commission in 2023.
“Our revenue projection from spectrum fees was N387.4 billion. But we ended up earning N199.8 billion as of September 2023, which is a significant difference from the projected revenue.
“We hope to earn more between now and December, but we may not be able to meet budgetary projections.
“This is because frequencies are usually sold through auctions and there are some frequencies that were earmarked for auction during the year.
“However, the auction did not attract the expected patronage. Those frequencies had been reserved for subsequent auctions,” he stressed.
