A public affairs analyst and accountability advocate, Abubakar Yaro, has said the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project’s (SERAP) claim that N26.9 billion is missing from the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) is misleading.
Yaro disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.
DAILY POST reports that SERAP had demanded a probe of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, and the Secretary of the USPF, Yomi Arowosafe, over the alleged missing N26.9 billion.
Reacting, Yaro said the narrative being pushed to the public is selective, exaggerated, and lacks critical context.
He explained that available records and findings clearly show that the widely circulated N26.9 billion allegation is completely misleading.
“The data available from the investigation shows the average annual allocation to the USPF within the period under review was about N7.5 billion. Simple arithmetic, therefore, raises a legitimate question: how does an institution with an average yearly funding of N7.5 billion suddenly ‘lose’ N26.9 billion?
“Even more revealing is the fact that over N13.8 billion of the amount being referenced relates to operating surplus deductions reportedly handled directly by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) before funds are transferred to the USPF. According to the records reviewed, the USPF does not receive or retain those funds in the first place.
“Therefore, we must ask SERAP why these explanations were ignored before rushing to the media space,” he stated.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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