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Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
National Assembly will involve the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in investigating telecommunications companies in Nigeria over non-remitance of one per cent of their annual turnover to the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Information Communication Technology (ICT), Lado Abdullahi, disclosed this on Monday, during a telephone chat with journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The Abdullahi-led committee had been given one month to investigate the matter, following a motion sponsored by a member from Ukwa East/West federal constituency of Abia State, Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, in the last quarter of 2019. The one-month timeline was said to have been given to the committee in December last year. Telecoms sector purportedly owes NITDA over N200billion.
According to him, the investigation would begin when the House of Representatives resumes from recess this month, saying “the committee has not started working because the motion was moved during our last session before we went on recess and we have not resumed.
“So, when we resume, we will be able to investigate the matter. What is there is that hopefully by 20th of this month, the committee will take off but we are writing letters to them to furnish the secretariat with vital information about their annual turnover starting form 2007 till date when the NITDA Act was enacted.
“We want to know when last they released their turnover to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) from 2007 till date. And we also need to know whether the FIRS too gets information from them. FIRS will also provide us with the turnover of each service providers from 2007 till date.
“Then, the Attorney General, Accountant General, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will furnish us with useful information we need to do our job. The process ought to have been that once the FIRS collects the money, it makes it known to the Accountant General, who will release same to the Ministry of Finance and then to NITDA.
“The NITDA act says telecoms providers should remit one per cent of their annual turnover to NITDA, which it would use to install infrastructure. But majority of them are defaulting because they have not been paying this money, so that’s why the House has asked us to investigate the matter and prosecute whoever that is involved.
“We are involving the Attorney-General, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Department of State Security Service (DSS), and EFCC. And anybody (CEO) coming there to make presentation has to be on oath. All the Chief Executive Officers will be summoned before the National Assembly to resolve the issue and the Attorney-General too will do the investigation and prosecute them, accordingly.”
