From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Senate has approved the sum of ₦287 billion for the 2025 budget of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF).
Of the sum, ₦15 billion is for the USPF, a special intervention fund under the NCC aimed at expanding access to communication services across underserved and unserved communities, while ₦272.433 billion is for the NCC.
The passage followed the consideration and adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on Communications, chaired by Ikra Aliyu Bilbis, in plenary on Tuesday, July 8.
According to the report presented to the Senate, the USPF’s total projected revenue for the 2025 fiscal year stands at ₦15 billion, with the expenditure also at ₦15 billion.
The breakdown of the expenditure includes ₦10.9 billion earmarked for projects and programmes targeted at improving digital inclusion, ₦4.04 billion for recurrent expenses of the USPF secretariat, and ₦53.96 million for capital expenditure.
“The Committee, having reviewed the budget documents and interacted with the Fund’s management, recommends that the Senate approve the sum of fifteen billion naira (₦15,000,000,000) only for the operations of the USPF in the 2025 fiscal year,” Bilbis stated while presenting the report.
Speaking earlier in the year during the budget defence session, NCC’s Director, Financial Services, Mr Yakubu Gontor, who handled the technical aspect of the budget defence, explained that out of the proposed ₦272.433 billion, ₦95.668 billion is for recurrent expenditure, ₦10.75 billion for capital expenditure, and ₦40.93 billion for special projects.
The motion for the adoption of the recommendation was subsequently moved and approved without objection.
