The Federal Executive Council (FEC)  has approved the sum of N653,886,584 to procure and deploy a hybrid spectrum monitoring system that will track radio signals in the southern part of the country, particularly, the South East.

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

The minister also revealed that investigation carried out in the five geo-political zones of North-East, North-West, North-Central, South-West, and South-South showed that out of the 320 frequencies discovered, 106 were illegal.

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

“I had a meeting with the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice on how to facilitate the process, so we are in the process of doing that.

“The Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, sought the approval of the council to deploy hybrid spectrum monitoring system, most importantly to focus on the South-Eastern zone of the country.

“From January to August 2020, within the period of eight months, we discovered 320 frequencies being used all over the country, and of this 320, 106 were illegal.

“This is very worrisome because the usage of this illegal spectrum or frequencies will compromise our security and safety in the country.

“It is because of the agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari, on promoting security that we came up with this initiative of monitoring the usage of frequencies and uncover the legal and the illegal ones.

“For the legal ones, it is to ensure they renew their licenses annually and for the illegal ones, necessary actions are being taken according to the gravity of the offense.

“We discovered that our monitoring did not cover the South-East part of the country. It covered five zones : North-East, North-West, North-Central, South-West, and South-South, however, the 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 the deployment and this project will go a long 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.