Commission to launch Cyber Security Framework next month
The Senate’s ongoing yearly recess has put a hold on the confirmation of the newly appointed Board of Commissioners for the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), raising concerns among industry stakeholders about potential delays in critical policy decisions.
   
​President Bola Tinubu recently announced the constitution of the NCC board, a move widely anticipated after a period of prolonged vacancy. The appointments, which include a new Chairman, are subject to confirmation by the Senate as mandated by the Nigerian Communications Act 2003.
    
However, the confirmation process is now on pause as the Senate began its two-month yearly recess on July 24, with lawmakers scheduled to reconvene on September 23.     
   
This legislative break, a routine of the National Assembly’s calendar, is meant to allow senators to conduct oversight functions and engage with their constituencies.
    
The delay in the NCC board’s confirmation has been a source of concern for some in the telecommunications sector. 
 
An ex-director of the NCC, Dr Tony Ojobo, recently emphasised the urgency of the matter, stating that regulating the industry “without a board is a panacea for chaos and retrogression.”
    
He canvassed an “expeditious” screening and confirmation process, once the upper legislative chamber resumes, enabling the new board to address pressing issues.

The new board’s agenda is expected to be a full one, with Ojobo and other stakeholders calling for a comprehensive staff audit, a review of recruitment processes, and a summit to engage industry players. The timely confirmation and inauguration of the board are seen as crucial to providing strategic direction and resolving challenges facing the sector.
    
He urged the board to urgently address issues such as the amendment of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003, which cannot effectively address emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and issues bordering on technology convergence.
   
Ojobo listed other matters of urgency to include the declining quality of services, which should be holistically examined; ascertaining the immediate causes of the decline and addressing them; examining the outstanding issues and challenges the service providers currently contend with, and ensuring a quick resolution. 
 
“The board with the Management should urgently conduct a stakeholders’ summit to directly take notes of issues plaguing the industry, and address them expeditiously,” Ojobo said.
    
Speaking further, the former director reminded me that the board could draw from the expertise of erstwhile staff of the commission, with institutional memory, expertise and experience to provide guidance and advice.
  
“Fortuitously, Hajia Mariam Bayi, the former Director of Human Capital and Infrastructure, is on the new board. It is hoped that the new board can benefit from her experience. The newly constituted board should provide the needed guidance to the Executive Vice-Chairman, Dr. Aminu Maida, to move the industry forward. Time is not on the side of this board. The industry is in an emergency state, and urgent intervention is critical,” he added.
  
Ojobo, a former spokesperson of NCC, however, warned that previous successes of the commission could lead to complacency and a lack of innovative regulatory initiatives, thus hindering innovation and development, urging the Board and Management to work harmoniously against complacency.
 
Meanwhile, the NCC, which pledged service improvement, will soon launch a Cyber Security Framework.
  
The Executive Vice Chairman, Dr Aminu Maida, disclosed this, saying the framework was needed, especially as the country’s digital agenda gradually matures.