Senator, Minister of finance fight over approval of Commission's budget

According to various media reports, the vice chairman of the senate committee on communications, Senator Solomon Adeola, has faulted the moves of Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, to approve the budget of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Adeola said the proposal of the minister to vet the income and expenditure of the NCC was a breach of Section 25(2) of the NCC act.

Arguing that the minister was wrong on her submission that the NCC should submit their ‘budgets for approval", the Senator stated that any attempt by the minister of finance and the supervising minister to approve the budget of the NCC would amount to a breach of the law and an encroachment on the function and power of the national legislature.

Reacting to the ministers briefing after the first Federal Executive Council meeting for the year, Adeola said that under the NCC act, only the National Assembly was empowered by the constitution to consider and approve the budget of the NCC.

“I am surprised that the minister was quoted as including NCC among other agencies required to submit budgets for her and other supervising ministers to approve. As well intentioned as this may seem in the effort to generate revenue and block leakages, it is a flagrant contravention of the NCC Act as well as usurping the power of the National Assembly to approve the budget of NCC,” Adeola said.

The NCC is the independent national regulatory authority in charge of the telecommunications industry in Nigeria.