THE CABLE
Isa Ali Pantami, former minister of communications and digital economy, recently made a claim that he raised the ministry’s quarterly revenue generation by a staggering amount.
In a press statement announcing the plan to unveil “4,366 projects” implemented in his four years as minister, Pantami said he raised the ministry’s quarterly revenue from N51.3 million to N408.7 billion.
To ascertain the accuracy of Pantami’s claim, TheCable scrutinised the revenue figures reported by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). It is the biggest agency in the ministry responsible for the remittances from the telecoms sector, where the bulk of the revenue comes from.
Here is a breakdown of NCC’s reports for each year.
2019: In Pantami’s first year as minister, the NCC reported remittances totalling N69,849,953,000. This amount comprised N25,849,953,000 from spectrum trading and an additional N44,000,000,000 as operating surplus.
