FEC approves N654m for hybrid spectrum in S’ East

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved procurement and deployment of hybrid spectrum monitoring system to detect illegal frequencies in the southeast at the cost of N653, 886,584.

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami, stated this to State House correspondents at the end of the weekly virtual FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

The Minister said investigations had revealed the use of illegal frequencies in the country had become very rampant, adding out of the 320 frequencies discovered, 106 were illegal.

He, however, said based on the advice of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, the illegal frequencies will be prosecuted.

“We discovered that our monitoring did not cover south east part of the country. It covered five zones – north east, north -west, north central, south west and south south, however, south east has not been covered.

“It is because of this that we presented our memo, seeking for council’s approval of N653,886,584 to procure and deploy hybrid spectrum monitoring system that will cover the southern part of the country, most importantly the south east.

“So council approved for the deployment and this project will go along way in promoting safety and security and secondly, identify the usage of illegal spectrum and thirdly, enhance revenue for the federal government and fourthly, in the long run it will create many jobs for the citizens,” he said.

“The purpose of the memo is to enhance the operational capability and capacity of the Corps so that we can stop the carnage on our roads and also secure our roads better.

“The unique thing about this memo is that these vehicles are being sourced from one of our local assemble plants, Peugeot Nigeria Ltd in Kaduna”, he said.