The government of Nigeria has approved a review of the NCC Act 2003 to distinguish the regulatory roles of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) from the policy development and implementation roles of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
According to industry reports, the decision of the federal government to distinctly differentiate the roles of both government agencies is coming on the hills of the recent friction between NCC and NITDA over industry regulatory issues, which almost undermined the contribution of the telecoms sector to national Gross Domestic Products (GDP).
Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman of NCC, who confirmed the review of the NCC Act 2003, said NCC has concluded on the first and second drafts of the review and has submitted same to Dr Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, for approval, before the final draft would be released.
Danbatta, who spoke at the Telecom Executives and Regulators Forum (TERF) in Lagos, said, “The Nigerian Communication Act is currently being reviewed. The first and second draft has been concluded, and the final draft will soon be released. The second draft has been made available to the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani. We had to review the NCC Act to ensure that all conflicts and overlaps can be addressed so that NITDA and NCC can co-exist without friction of roles.”
The NCC Act 2003, which was signed into law by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on July 8, 2003, empowers NCC as a regulator to create a regulatory framework for the Nigerian communications industry and to promote the implementation of national telecommunications policy as may, from time to time, be modified and amended.
However, the NCC Act is being reviewed following the proposed NITDA Bill sent to the ninth Assembly some months ago, which seeks to convert NITDA from a development agency to a regulatory agency.
The bill seeks to enact an Act that will empower NITDA to provide for the administration, implementation and regulation of Information Technology Systems and Practices in Nigeria, automatically converting NITDA from a development agency to a regulatory agency in a sector with an existing regulator.
Worried that the proposed NITDA Bill would generate regulatory friction between NCC and NITDA, industry stakeholders vehemently kicked against the bill and wrote to the National Assembly, asking the honourable members to drop the bill, which, according to them, did not represent the interest of industry stakeholders.
