NCC clarifies no deficit in 2021 financial reports

*The Nigerian Communications Commission disclaims the ‘wrong impression created’ in a report by an online publication, and subsequent misinterpretation of the Commission’s financial reports may have had on its stakeholders and the general public

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says the telecoms sector regulator’s attention has been drawn to an online publication with a misleading headline titled: “NCC Incurs a Deficit of N17bn, Spending N35.2bn on Personnel, Consultancy Fees”.

The Commission noted its concerned with the inability of the online publication to accurately interpret the contents of the NCC 2021 Annual Reports that have been published.

Mr. Reuben Muoka, Director of Public Affairs at NCC, Tuesday, April 25, 2023, stated as a result, the publication “gave a wrong impression that the Commission incurred a N17billion deficit because of expenditures on personnel and consultancy fees.”

The NCC said the misleading publication was far from the truth.

The Director of Public Affairs also said though the Statement of the Financial Performance of the Commission for the period ended December 2021, clearly indicated that the sum of N17.3billion was a “Surplus/(Deficit) retained for the period)”, this does not imply that the Commission incurred a cash deficit as the expenditure in its financials were both in cash and accruals applicable to the year.

The statement further noted: “If the publication had inquired of the constituents of our expenditures, it would have learnt that the expenditures for the year 2021 included accruals for items undergoing procurement at the end of the year, like the State Accelerated Broadband Initiative, SABI, being implemented by the Commission, which was standing in the sum of about N24billion in the financial report.”

Muoka as well clarified that the Commission remitted an Operating Surplus/Spectrum Fees of estimated N197.7billion to the Federal Government, under the same Financial Performance Reporting period, and had a bank balance of about N46.97billion, thereby erasing any doubt that there was any deficit spending in the financial year.

It stated: “The Commission, therefore, disclaims the wrong impression created by the above headline, and subsequent misinterpretation of our financial report in the publication may have had in the minds of the public, and stakeholders.

“The Commission reiterates its commitment to effective and transparent processes in all its regulatory, management and financial activities.”