At least 126 illegal telecommunications mast and towers have been decommissioned for lack of proper documentation and other irregularities, the FCTA Department of Outdoor Advertisement and Signage, DOAS, has revealed.
The figure is part of the 1,300 illegal telecommunications towers discovered to have been erected without proper permits.
Director of DOAS, Dr Babagana Adam, in a news conference in Abuja, said the masts were erected without regards to the Urban and Town planning laws of the city.
“When we came recently, we discovered that we have over 1,300 illegal Telecommunications masts and towers within the Federal Capital Territory that were erected without regards to urban and Town planning laws by obtaining permits.
“In fact, recently, without mentioning the company, we had to bring down 126 illegal towers without documentation for them.
“After over the 60 days given to them to present evidence of their documents and they couldn’t. So we have to regularize them and where they don’t meet with the regulations, we had to decommission to the Nigerian Communication Commission, NCC,” he said.
He said the department is hoping to generate over N1billion from each telecommunications mast in 2022, this is aside the N650 million target set to be made from billboard and Signage advertisements in the coming year.
Adam added that despite the challenges of COVID-19 in 2020, the department was able to generate the sum of N1.175billion in the last three years.
He said the department from May 2019 to December when he took over, realized the revenue that it could not generate in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
“In 2020 there was a total shutdown of government offices and our activities were affected because of corona virus, yet the department generated N600 million to the coffers of the Federal Capital Territory Administration.
“2021 that is in progress, the department raised N750 million, we are going higher every day.”
Adams regretted that activities of the department are being thwarted by fake revenue agents that parade themselves as DOAS officials.
