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The reappointment of Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta as the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has officially been confirmed by the Nigerian Senate, the country’s upper legislative chamber.
President Muhammadu Buhari had, last month, reappointed Danbatta to lead the telecom regulatory body for another five years subject to the confirmation of the Senate as provided for by the country’s law.
This Tuesday, the Senate confirmed Danbatta during its plenary in Abuja, following the consideration of the report of Senator Oluremi Tinubu-led Senate Committee on Communications.
Danbatta had, last week Wednesday, 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.
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.
“With the Senate confirmation, Danbatta has received a vote of confidence to continue to steer the regulatory activities of the country’s over $70 billion telecommunications industry for another five years towards fast-tracking Federal Government’s agenda on digital economy development.” said a statement by the NCC signed by its Director of Public Affairs Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde.
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 sector’s 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.
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.
