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This week in Abuja, President Bola Tinubu formally announced his appointment of new and returning CEOs to fresh terms in agencies under the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy.
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Apart from the sack of Prof Umar Garba Danbatta as the executive vice chairman/CEO of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and his replacement with Aminu Maida, the emergence of all of the appointees within the ministry was already an open knowledge to persons conversant with the intrigues that preceded the formal announcement.
Enter, Maida
If Danbatta had any support base going for him, the report by Sahara Reporters detailing his misdealing with Globacom was all that his opponents needed to ease him out of contention.
Within the Presidency, the appointment of Aminu Maida as the new helmsman for the telecoms regulatory body became a forgone conclusion.
Maida, Executive Director, Technology and Operations at Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) is a sseasoned technical professional with over 15 years of multi-functional and international experience in FinTech & Telecoms & Enterprise Technology.
Son of late Wada Maida, a thoroughbred professional journalist, former managing director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and former president, Nigerian Guild of Editors, the younger Maida was CTO at the Nigerian-based FinTech Arca Payments Network and Senior Manager at Cisco Systems UK before joining the NIBSS. The senior Maida was a close ally of former President Muhammadu Buhari and was one time his chief press secretary.
Already listed: Odeyemi, Alubankudi Saliu
Both Tola Odeyemi, the new Postmaster General / CEO, Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) and Idris Alubankudi Saliu, Special Adviser to the President on Technology and Digital Economy have featured prominently in past reports by the IT Edge News as names penciled down to lead some of the agencies in the ministry. Their emergence was already expected.
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Odeyemi takes over NIPOST with extensive work experience drawn from working as a senior government functionary at both state and federal levels on strategy development; implementation, policy making, and operations. Odeyemi, who has served as the Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Environmental Trust Fund, and simultaneously served as the Senior Special Assistant to the Lagos state Governor on the Public Utilities Monitoring and Assurance Unit (PUMAU), worked as the Head of Public Policy for West Africa at Uber Technologies.
Idris, who is joining the government as Special Adviser to the President on Technology and Digital Economy, is a Co-Founder at UK-based Ceviant and Arca (two independent fintechs), He worked at the Interswitch Group as its Chief Technical Officer.
Nkechi Egerton-Idehen, who takes charge of NIGCOMSAT,  was the Head of Sales for the Middle East & Africa at Meta and has been part of the executive leadership team at Ericsson Ghana and Liberia. Her work experience include roles as Acting Customer Team Head at MTN Nigeria and Country Manager in Nigeria and the Regional Sales Manager in West Africa for Avanti Communications.
Below are the list of new and retained appointees.
- EVC / CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) — Aminu Maida
- MD / CEO, Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT) — Nkechi Egerton-Idehen
- DG / CEO, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) — Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi
- National Commissioner / CEO, Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) — Dr. Vincent Olatunji
- Postmaster General / CEO, Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) — Tola Odeyemi
- Special Adviser to the President on Technology and Digital Economy — Idris Alubankudi.
COVER PHOTO: @bosuntijani
