House Of Rep Probes N6 Billion SIM Card Registration Project

The House of Representatives has launched an investigation into the N6.1 billion SIM card registration project embarked upon by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) in 2011.

The investigation followed the delay in completing the exercise and the request by NCC for additional N1 billion for the project in its 2012 budget.

The project was approved in the 2011 Appropriation Act amidst controversy. The lawmakers had opposed its huge cost and had argued that it amounted to a duplication of efforts and wastage of public funds as mobile telecommunications companies were also simultaneously registering their subscribers.

Some of the lawmakers had argued that the NCC had no business embarking on the project since the various service providers were already registering their subscribers.

The registration was undertaken through NCC-appointed SIM registration consultants in each of the six geopolitical zones, including Lagos; and the telecoms service providers.

The NCC, which had given a six-month deadline for subscribers to register their SIM cards, extended the deadline indefinitely to allow more subscribers to register.

Announcing the extension, NCC Head, Media and Public Relations, Reuben Muoka, had said all unregistered SIM cards would be promptly disconnected after the conclusion of the exercise.

He, however, added that service providers would not be allowed to disconnect unregistered subscribers until the commission announced the completion of harmonisation of the data.

There are indications that the NCC may be compelled to refund part of the funds appropriated for the project in the previous year’s budget as penalty.

Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Communications, Hon. Usman Bawa, who gave these hints at the weekend, said the probe became necessary because the committee was not satisfied with the slow pace of the project and the additional request for fund.

Before the House went on recess, a sub-committee of its Committee on Communications was mandated to investigate the SIM card registration and the level of implementation of the call centre project which the NCC also initiated and for which the National Assembly had appropriated funds for.

Bawa said the committee had already turned down the request for additional budgetary provisions and was on the verge of concluding its investigations.

According to him, the report of investigation into the SIM card registration project will be ready when the House resumes in the next two weeks from its annual recess.

He said: “If you ask me, the NCC has no business with the SIM card registration project. This is not the only country where such an exercise is taking place. Apart from that, the service providers have done about 80 per cent of the registration because they started well before the NCC. To me, for the regulatory body to be involved in the registration is a duplication of effort and a waste of resources and time.

“Even, the manner with which the bill for the N6.1 billion was passed during the Sixth Assembly showed that there was more to it than meets the eyes. From our investigations, from which our report was compiled, our interactions with the NCC contractors for the SIM card registration and the service providers, a lot have been exposed and this was part of the reason why we have removed the N1 billion that was budgeted for the same SIM card registration in the last budget. I make bold to say that if the removal of the N1 billion was critical to the exercise, then the NCC would have raised dust over it. They claimed that the N1 billion was meant for software and I ask what kind of software would cost N1 billion?

“Remember that other countries have done a similar exercise before and that the software is in the open market for all to access. We have all the details on the equipment types, specifications and everything and that is the reason why we removed the N1 billion from their budget believing that it was not necessary because it will only amount to wastage.”

Bawa explained that all over the world, SIM card registration is the duty of the service providers and not the government or its regulatory agency.

He lamented that the project had dragged on for too long and its non-completion had given rise to some of the unpleasant security challenges, which it was designed to prevent.

“Imagine the recent case of the murder of the General’s daughter (Cynthia Osokogu); if the process had been concluded before now, such incidents may probably have been prevented because it would not have been difficult to identify and apprehend the culprits who were said to have about 20 SIM cards in their possession. I am sure, someone with so many cards and telephone lines would have been on the watch list of security agencies beforehand if the NCC had executed the SIM registration project,” he said.

Bawa also disclosed that the House Committee on Communication was working on a bill that would establish a Public Safety Communication Fund (PSCF) to assist security agencies in tackling insecurity in the country.

The PSCF, when established, Bawa said, will provide a communication infrastructure that would enable citizens to access help in times of emergency by dialling a functional toll-free three-digit number.

On the bid by the NCC to establish zonal offices and communication centres across the country, Bawa said so far, the committee was yet to ascertain the position of these projects.

“What we are particular about as members of the House is that we have not seen a project inaugurated in the last one year.

“Even in the budget we just passed, there were previous ongoing projects which we had expected that they would have completed, but nothing yet.  As soon as we come back from the recess, we are going on oversight to ascertain what is the actual situation about the projects we have appropriated for and whether they are still ongoing or abandoned. We need to know and let Nigerians know because taxpayers’ monies are involved, so we need to follow up to know that money appropriated for are spent properly.

“For instance, the emergency call centres are supposed to be in each state of the federation but we are only hearing that only two that were just like prototype have been inaugurated. We are curious to know the details about the emergency call centres because the contracts for all the states were supposed to have been awarded at the same time.

“More worrisome is how can the two centres handle all the calls coming from across the country?  Why should we get two centres when all the states are supposed to have theirs as contained in the Appropriation Act?

“Another point of concern is the area of equipment for the project that was awarded two years ago. If it was awarded two years ago and just two were delivered, what happens to the equipment that was supposed to be supplied to the other centres?  Remember the state of the equipment is at stake here when we look at the pace of global technological development,” Bawa said.