A senior lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana, has written the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) to request the release of the contract award letter to the successful consultant for a revenue generation project facilitated by the commission

The contract is said to be on the deployment of revenue assurance solution to facilitate the collection of the NCC’s 2.5 per cent annual operating levy and other government taxes from the Nigerian telecommunication industry.

 

 

The letter signed by the Senior Advocate of Nigeria and made available to newsmen, said that should the commission fail to address concerns raised in the request, he would apply to the Federal High Court for an order of mandamus to compel the NCC to issue the contract award letter to the successful bidder.

Falana, however, pointed out that the request is in line with provisions of the Procurement Act.

The letter read in part: “We have confirmed that the Nigerian Communication Commission under your management has since concluded the procurement process for the deployment of the revenue assurance solution that will aid the government to block the leakages associated with the revenue collection and ensure that the revenue of over N600 billion that ought to accrue to the government from the Nigerian Telecommunication Industry is monitored, analyzed and collected automatically and deposited in the Treasury Single Account (TSA ).

 

 

“We are however surprised to note that several months after the issuance of the Concurrence/Guidance on the award of the contract to the successful consultant by the Federal Ministry of Finance, your Commission has deliberately refused to issue the contract award letter to enable the successful consultant to deploy the software and save Nigeria from further loss of huge revenue.”

Mr Falana said that the speedy deployment of the revenue assurance solution will greatly increase the country’s non-oil revenue and reduce her dependence on loans from China, Western Countries and International Financial Institutions to fund the annual budget and the infrastructural development of the country. The action will be in line with the government’s plan to diversify the economy, he added.

 

 

“In the circumstance, we are compelled to request you to use your good offices to ensure the immediate release of the contract award letter to the successful consultant for the deployment of revenue assurance solution to facilitate the collection of the Nigerian Communication Commission’s 2.5 % annual operating levy and other government taxes from the Nigerian telecommunication industry,” the letter stated.

The lawyer added that the commission would not allow the request become a subject of litigation which, according to him, “will lead to dire consequences for the Management of the Nigerian Communication Commission for causing the nation to lose the revenue of over N600 billion per annum.”

 

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