The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has expressed dissatisfaction with an online publication that misinterpreted the contents of its 2021 Annual Reports, which were made public.
In a press statement signed by the Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, the Commission clarified that it did not incur a deficit of N17bn, contrary to the online publication’s report.
Muoka stated that the publication’s inability to accurately interpret the Commission’s financial reports had given a wrong impression that NCC incurred a N17bn deficit due to expenditures on personnel and consultancy fees.
However, Muoka affirmed that this was far from the truth.
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“The Statement of the Financial Performance of the Commission for the period ended December 2021, clearly indicates that the sum of N17.3bn 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,” Muoka clarified.
Muoka further noted that if the online publication had inquired about the constituents of NCC’s expenditure, it would have learned that the expenses for the year 2021 included accruals for items undergoing procurement at the end of the year, such as the State Accelerated Broadband Initiative (SABI).
The initiative was implemented by the Commission, and it stood at about N24bn in the financial report.
Additionally, the Commission had remitted an Operating Surplus/Spectrum Fees of estimated N197.7bn to the Federal Government, under the same Financial Performance Reporting period, and had a bank balance of about N46.97bn, further erasing any doubt that there was any deficit spending.
“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,” Muoka affirmed.
He added that the Commission remained committed to effective and transparent processes in all its regulatory, management, and financial activities.
