NCC fails to justify APC’s fundraising platform shutdown

The Nigerian Communications Commission has said the All Progressives Congress SMS-based platform for fundraising was shut down because the platform did not conform with laid down rules of the regulatory agency.
Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, said this in an interview with journalists on the sideline of the 3rd African Preparatory Meeting of the African Telecommunications Union, which opened in Abuja on Monday.
Juwah said, “We are NCC. We are a public service agency. We are not political. You are allowed to raise money but you must conform to the rules of NCC.
“We did not make these rules, looking at elections. We made the rules for the development of telecommunications in Nigeria and we must keep those rules, whether there is election or not.”
Pressed further for the specific rule that was violated, the NCC boss declined any further comment on the controversial order that had stopped the opposition party from raising money using SMS platform provided by digital mobile operators.
The Director of the Fundraising Committee of APC and Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, had recently disclosed that NCC shut down the SMS platform, which the party had opened to enable members of the public to contribute to the campaign fund of the party.
Speaking at the African Preparatory Meeting, Juwah said the forum provided Africans an opportunity to harmonise their stand on spectrum issues across the continent and avoid the incidence of interference among neighbouring countries.
He said, “Avenues like this should be used to further the interest and development of the region. This we should do by thoroughly and objectively looking at all the issues that would be discussed at this meeting.
“Harmonisation is key in spectrum matters. It is also a known fact that for every harmonised spectrum utilised efficiently, there is a corresponding positive impact on every nation’s economy.
“Harmonisation results in the economy of scale which positively impacts the cost of manufacture, distribution and use of equipment.”