Network for Best Practice and Integrity in Leadership (NEBPRIL) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly to prevent the Nigerian Communications Commission from selling 5G spectrum (NCC).
The communiqué was forwarded to newsmen on Monday.
Mafab Communication and MTN Nigeria emerged as the two winners of the 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum auction for the implementation of 5G technology in December 2021.
NCC announced that the auction of the 3.5 Gigahertz (3.5 GHz) spectrum for the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) technology in Nigeria would occur on December 13, 2022.
Victor Ogene, an officer of NEBPRIL and a former member of the House of Representatives, said that the NCC is planning to sell two further lots of the 3.5 GHz spectrum on 5G services, some months after the initial auction yielded two investor businesses for a total of $275 million.
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Mr. Ogene, who represents the Ogbaru Federal Constituency of Anambra State, suggested that the NCC wait at least two years before conducting another auction.
He suggested that the sale would diminish investor confidence.
“This development is not only insensitive to the investors and would-be investors, but it also calls to question the government’s policy on the ease of doing business in Nigeria. Nigeria cannot afford to continue on this path of policy inconsistency, as that would continue to harm the drive to attract more investment into the country.
“If a regulatory authority has given a timeline of two years before more licenses would be on offer, integrity demands that such a directive is upheld in order to build and retain the confidence of both investors and consumers in the sector.
“We, therefore, call on President Buhari and the leadership of the two chambers of the National Assembly, to urgently take steps to put a stop to this obvious attempt at official malfeasance in the telecommunications sector,” he said.
Mr. Ogene requested that the NCC create and license new Mobile Virtual Network Operation (MVNO) services, which has the potential to stimulate greater activity in the sector, particularly considering its potential to generate more jobs and income for the country.
