2023: Technology to play crucial role in delivering free, fair general elections to Nigerians- Danbatta

The Executive Vice Chairman of, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Dambatta, has said that technology will play a crucial role in delivering free and fair general elections to Nigerians in the next few weeks.

He stated that NCC is therefore working very hard and collaborating with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that election results are transmitted electronically as required by law.

Speaking on the Economic Effect of Vandalizing Telecom Infrastructure in the Digital Economy at the 2023 Edition of Youth, Civil Society and Stakeholder Summit yesterday in Abuja, Danbatta stated that vandalizing telecom infrastructures negatively impacts the availability of digital platforms.

He added that Nigerians have a duty to protect the national telecom infrastructures as such to benefit from the dividends of democracy and good governance.

The EVC noted that the Commission receives reports of vandalization of telecom infrastructures from the operating telecom companies and these acts, he decried, impact on the delivered quality of services and the availability of the digital platforms.

He noted that the forthcoming elections, national activities and programmes, communication with conducting banking activities, especially the use of Point of Sales (PoS) machines, all depend on the national telecom infrastructure.

Danbatta observed that Nigerians need to protect and preserve those infrastructures, as disruptions will impact severely many aspects of people’s daily lives and activities.

According to him, some of the impacts of the vandalisation of critical infrastructure include disruption of network services and disconnection of digital platforms, congestion of alternative backup routes/networks, and interruption of social and economic activities. Others are loss of revenue with ripple effects on other networks and network elements.

He noted that the Commission and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) are collaborating to protect telecom infrastructure as a critical national asset and have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard.

“The partnership enables the Commission to explore enabling laws, subsidiary legislations, and extant guidelines to arrest and prosecute anyone involved in the vandalization of telecom infrastructure.

“The youth and civil society as critical stakeholders in the development process of any community have a duty to educate the public of the importance of protecting telecom infrastructure located in their immediate vicinity.

“In Nigeria, we have seen growth in telecom subscriptions from 206 million active lines in June 2021 to 222 million at the end of December 2022. From the data, we can see that the Nigerian market is growing, and it translates to increase infrastructures, network capacities, digital economic platforms and so many others.

“As a regulator, we are positioning ourselves to support our future, and one of the focuses of the 5-Point Agenda of NCC is to facilitate the provision of infrastructure for a digital economy. This we believe, will foster national development, inclusive growth and economic prosperity”, he said.