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Danbatta set for Senate confirmation as Screening Committee lauds 5-year Scorecard The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, is set to be confirmed by the Senate for his reappointment by the President for another five-year term in office as the country’s chief telecoms regulator. This followed the acknowledgement of his outstanding performance in the last five years when he appeared before the Senate Screening Committee recently in Abuja. During the screening, Danbatta, who demonstrated his deep knowledge of the industry, extensively discussed his scorecard since he assumed office as the EVC of NCC on August 4, 2015, following which the Committee members applauded him for his sterling performance and exceptional leadership qualities which, they said had helped in accelerating the growth of the telecoms sector. Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe, a prominent member of the committee, who represented the Chairman of the Senate Screening Committee, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, during the screening, as well as other committee members, including Sen. Sandy Onor, Sen. Abiodun Olujimi, Sen. Bamidele Opeyemi, Sen. Omar Jeff, Sen. Kashim Shettima and Sen. Bukachuwa, commended Danbatta’s impressive performance in piloting the affairs of the country’s digital ecosystem. 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, 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 in the past five years 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, broadband infrastructure deployment, 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 Number towards ridding the country of insecurity, among others. Danbatta 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 Danbatt

Senate confirms Danbatta’s reappointment as NCC Boss

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Ediri Oyibo
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The Nigerian Senate, the country’s upper legislative chamber, has officially confirmed the nomination of Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta for reappointment as the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The Senate confirmed Danbatta during its plenary on Tuesday, July 21, 2020 in Abuja, following the consideration of the report of Senator Oluremi Tinubu-led Senate Committee on Communications.

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Danbatta had, on Wednesday, July 15, 2020, appeared before the Senate Screening Committee and gave impressive accounts of his stewardship as the country’s chief telecoms regulator in the last five years. The EVC’s appearance before the Senate following his nomination for reappointment as the umpire for the telecom the industry for another five years by President Muhammad Buhari on June 5, 2020.

Danbatta was appointed, in the first instance, for a five-year term in office as the NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, on August 4, 2015 and was subsequently confirmed by the Senate on November 25, 2015.

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With the Senate confirmation, Danbatta has received a vote confidence to continue to steer the regulatory activities of the countries over $70 billion telecommunications industry for another five years towards fast-tracking Federal Government agenda on digital economy development.

Danbatta’s visionary leadership has been hinged on NCC’ Strategic Vision Plan (SVP) for the fiscal years 2015-2020, focused on the 8-Point Agenda, the effective implementation of which has led to impressive broadband penetration which rose from a mere 6.0 percent in 2015 to 40.14 per cent in May, 2020. Active Internet subscriptions also increased from 93 million to over 141 million currently during the period.

The number of active telephone subscribers also rose from 150 million in 2015 to 192.32 million in May 2020 with teledensity currently standing at 100.72 percent, following the rebasing the teledensity to 91 percent in March, 2019.

The increase in broadband penetration, Internet usage, number of access to telephone and several other initiatives by the Commission, especially in the areas of driving tech innovations, creating employment, promoting digital inclusiveness, have helped improve the sectors’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contribution from 8.50 percent in 2015 to over 11 per cent currently, with a lot of digital activities taking place in all the sectors of the economy.

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Professor Danbatta is set to consolidate the modest achievements of the past five years by focusing on broadband penetration, consumer protection and empowerment, efficient resource utilisation, and facilitation of fibre infrastructure deployment.

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