Reappointment: Danbatta awaits Senate’s final confirmation decision

• As screening C’ttee lauds his 5-year scorecard

By Omobayo Azeez

Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) is awaiting the final decision on the confirmation of his reappointment as the EVC of the NCC from the Senate.

The confirmation screening of the professor of electronics and electrical engineering had commenced with his recent engagement with the senate screening commiitte where he reeled out the scorecard of his first five-year term in office since August 4, 2015.

Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe, a member of the committee, who represented Oluremi Tinubu, the chairman of the committee, alongside other senators, reportedly commended Danbatta’s impressive performance in piloting the affairs of the country’s digital ecosystem.

Other members of the screening panel include Sandy Onor, Abiodun Olujimi, Bamidele Opeyemi, Omar Jeff, Kashim Shettima and Bukachuwa, all senators.

Oloriegbe noted that the screening and confirmation exercise is in accordance with the provisions of Section 8 subsections 1 and 4 of the Nigerian Communications Commission Act (NCA), 2003.

Section 8 subsection 1 of the Act states that “…all commissioners to be appointed after the coming into force of this Act shall be appointed by the President in accordance with Section 7 of this Act, from the six geo-political zones of Nigeria subject to confirmation by the Senate,” while subsection 4 states that “…commissioners shall serve for a term of 5 years from the date of their appointment at the expiration of which the President may renew the term for a further period of 5 years and no more.”

Danbatta, who gave convincing accounts of his stewardship in the last five years, said the diligent implementation of NCC’s auspicious strategic 8-point agenda.

The 8-point agenda, which he put in place when he assumed office in 2015, provided the basis for most of the commission’s achievements in the last five years, especially in the areas of service availability, accessibility and affordability.

The EVC reeled outstanding achievements under him during first term in office and provided relevant industry and macro-economic statistics to illuminate his efforts and strides in the areas of the sector’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Quality of Service (QoS) delivery and broadband infrastructure deployment.

He also touched on broadband penetration, effective spectrum utilisation, consumer empowerment, technology innovation as well as the Commission’s efforts with respect to curbing fraudulent Subscriber Identity Management (SIM) registration and 112 Emergency Communications Centres (ECC) towards ridding the country of insecurity, among others.

The EVC thanked the lawmakers for their support over the last five years and pledged his renewed commitment to further accelerate the growth of the telecoms industry as the key driver of the country’s digital economy vision over the next five years.

“As a commission, we are committed to challenging our current achievements. Consequently, we are poised to work more with the National Assembly and other necessary stakeholders in order to ensure we take Mr. President’s digital agenda for the country to the next level in the next five years.”

Meanwhile, the committee will report the outcome of the screening exercise to the Senate Committee of the whole house for confirmation of Danbatta’s reappointment during the next legislative sitting.