By Adedapo Adesanya
The newly appointed Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr Aminu Maida, has emphasized a need to focus on efforts that align with the Strategic Blueprint of the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, and the digital economy drive of President Bola Tinubu.
Mr Maida, who resumed duty on Tuesday, met with the Senior Management Staff of the commission where he highlighted his focus and emphasized all targets under his administration.
Mr Maida started his day by taking a tour of the agency’s headquarters and held a productive meeting with senior management.
He said he is incredibly honoured to have been given this opportunity to lead such a critical organization and responsibility to drive the Nigerian telecoms ecosystem – the backbone of the digital economy.
The EVC, who disclosed this via his X account, formerly known as Twitter, extended his sincere gratitude to President Tinubu for entrusting him with this critical role.
The NCC boss reiterated that he is fully committed to realizing the President’s digital plan for this administration, alongside the vision of the Minister for the communications industry, digital economy and innovation.
He added that he is looking forward to working with the entire NCC team.
He pledged that together, they will propel Nigeria’s telecoms ecosystem and digital landscape to new heights.
Last week, Me Tinubu removed Mr Umar Danbatta from the EVC position and named Mr Maida in his stead.
Mr Maida, before this appointment, was an Executive Director for Technology and Operations at Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems PLC. He also worked at Cisco as a Solutions Architect/Senior Manager and at ARCA Payments Company Ltd as CTO/Co-Founder. He has a doctorate degree in Signal Processing from the University of Bath.
The removal of Mr Danbatta was contained in a statement by the spokesman to the President, Mr Ajuri Ngelale, saying it was in line with President Tinubu’s determination to maximally leverage Nigeria’s proven technological and digital economic prowess to reposition the nation’s economy toward greater financial inclusion.
He also announced the appointment of a new Special Adviser to the President on Technology and Digital Economy, Mr Idris Alubankudi.
Mr Danbatta’s removal came as a surprise to the Information, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector professionals because he was only reappointed for a five-year second term in office in July 2020, meaning he had roughly two years away from completing his tenure.
