Commission spends N1.5bn on SIM registration

ALTHOUGH N6.1 billion was approved for the on-going registration of Subscribers Identification Modules (SIM) cards in the country, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday it has spent only N1.5 billion or 15 per cent so far. The registration exercise began in March 2011.The Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah told journalists yesterday in Lagos that all expenditure on the exercise are properly documented.According to him, the registration was a continuous exercise, and that the balance of N4.5 billion could still be spent as the exercise progresses.'I can say probably that we have spent only 15 per cent of that allocation and that is around N1.5 billion since we started the exercise. The process still continues and we are still going to spend more money, but the fact remains that whatever amount we expend are documented accurately.'He said the N1.5 billion already spent was on contractors and logistics that will ensure the exercise was seamless.Already, the House of Reps has ordered an investigation into the registration of SIM cards in the country by the NCC.According to the House of Reps, last week, the project, which gulped over N6.1 billion in 2011, appeared not to have achieved the aim of identifying GSM users in the country.In a motion by Mr. Abdulraham Terab, the House was informed that registered SIM cards were 'freely being sold on the street of Abuja and other parts of Nigeria.'Terab said this development had defeated the aim of providing a database from GSM users and to track abuses associate4d with mobile telephone in the countryJoining the motion for the probe, the Chairman, House Committee on Diaspora, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa said accounting for the N6.1 billion should be the condition for the passage of the commission's budget for 2012.Meanwhile, the commission through its Public Affairs Director, Mr. Tony Ojobo had said that the exercise, which kicked off in March 2011, and ended in September, was successful.Ojobo, who disclosed that the commission would soon announce the final results, said on the number of registered lines: 'There are over 110 million registered lines, but of course, the process of sorting out active lines is presently going on.'Explaining the reason behind the delay, Ojobo stated that some of the networks faced some challenges with the data they collected, thus causing a delay in the collation and harmonisation period, which has lasted seven months.According to Ojobo, there were over 10,000 fixed and mobile SIM card registration centres spread across the country, some owned by the network operators themselves and others managed by the NCC front end partners and agents.
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