Dipo Olowookere
The reappointment of Prof Umar Danbatta as the Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been confirmed by the Senate.
The upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly confirmed his reappointment for the position at the plenary on Tuesday.
The name of Mr Danbatta was no sent to the red chamber by President Muhammadu Buhari for confirmation for the position he has held since 2015.
Business Post reports that Mr Danbatta was appointed, in the first instance, for a five-year term in office as the NCC’s boss on August 4, 2015 and was subsequently confirmed by the Senate on November 25, 2015.
At the plenary on Tuesday, July 21, 2020, in Abuja, the Senate confirmed his nomination after the adoption of a report submitted by the leader of the Senate Committee on Communications, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu.
Mr 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.
With the senate confirmation, Mr 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.
His 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 per cent 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 per cent, following the rebasing the teledensity to 91 per cent 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 per cent in 2015 to over 11 per cent currently, with a lot of digital activities taking place in all the sectors of the economy.
Mr 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.
