By Aaron Ukodie
The various steps taken by minister of communication and digital economy, Isa Pantami, are not helping the industry as they are working towards eroding the independence of the regulator and sending ominous signals to investors.
The minister has consistently ignored the provisions of the telecom regulation act of 2003 that disallows him from interfering in the affairs of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The Act only permits the minister to formulate and review the general policy for the Nigerian communications sector, even on this he had to ask the NCC to do so on his behalf by organising a public consultative process on the proposed policy formulation or modification.And in formulating and determining the policy or amendments thereto, the Minister and the Council shall take into consideration the findings of the consultative process by the NCC.
The minister is also expected to from time to time notify the Commission or and express his views on the general policy direction of the Federal Government in respect of the communications sector, and the Commission is not bound to accept them.
But the minister has consistently ignored this provision of the Act as he has often issued determinations and directives to the NCC and the industry players in very dictatorial manners.
One very major way, the minister has interfered and seeking to end the independence of the NCC is his intervention in the management of the Universal Services Provision Fund (USPF), a body set up by the NCC to provide strategic funding to take telecom services to rural and underserved parts of the country.
Before the advent of Pantami, a secretary that reports to a board chaired by minister of communication and NCC vice chairman as deputy of the board has run the Fund. The USPF is domiciled in the NCC building and takes its directions and inputs from the various departments of the NCC in managing the affairs of the Fund. But upon resumption Pantami, in a bid to control the Fund has designated the USPF secretary as Executive Secretary who now reports to him
Apart from reporting to him, Pantami has also employed over 56 workers, many of them members of the National Youth Service Corps, from his part of the country, to work in the Fund, even though they are not needed and many do not have office where they stay to work.
He is alleged to be completely changing the structure and the reporting line of the USPF, a body that has a lot of money to dispense with, so as to take full control of it.
One of Pantami’s major preoccupation as minister is to diminish the successes recorded in the telecom industry, especially the work being done by the NCC, and tries to refocus those successes to himself, the reason he was angered when the NCCEVC made efforts to recount before President Muhammadu Buhari, the achievements of the Commission.
Industry sources suggest that the NCC is rapidly losing its independence in a way that is affecting new investment and growth of the industry.
One industry operative who spoke with eworldnews, warning that his name be not mentioned because of fear his license could be revoked by the minister, said “the future of the Commission is ominous. The incident of yesterday (Pantami stopping the NCC EVC from speaking freely in the presence of the president during the commission, in Abuja, of an NCC built facility) was reprehensible and shameful. If NCC fails in its mandate, the ICT industry is doomed and a likely catastrophic outcome and implications for the economy.“The minister should stop usurping the powers of the Commission. We labored for years to bring the NCC to the pedestal it stands today”, the industry official said.
