NCC, FRC target compliance to corporate governance in telecoms sector

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) have agreed to strengthen the level of compliance by telecoms operators to national and sector’s corporate codes of governance.

Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, stated this in Abuja, saying the Commission was ready to provide full support and collaboration by working together to entrench best corporate governance practice in all sectors of the Nigerian economy

Danbatta made the assertion through Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Sunday Dare, who represented him during a visit of Management and Board of FRC to the Commission yesterday.He restated NCC’s belief in sound Corporate Governance, which he said, was necessary for meaningful growth and economic development, particularly for the telecoms sector.

He stressed that this was why the NCC issued the Code of Corporate Governance for the telecoms industry in 2014 and made it mandatory for its larger licences in 2016.Dare noted that the FRC also lunched the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance in 2018 to achieve the same objectives as the NCC Code on an economy-wide basis. The FRC Code, however, takes effect from January 2020.

He explained that while the two codes have the same primary objectives of enhancing corporate performance through adherence to best practices, it is natural that there would be areas of divergence, which he said, the Commission and FRC could work together to address for the benefit of the country.

He also explained that regulatory certainty and predictability were very critical for the telecoms industry and, therefore, require continuous and harmonious engagement between the two organisations, to enable them address grey areas.Responding, FRC Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Daniel Asapokhai, who led his delegation to the Commission, commended the NCC for its initiative, stressing that increased engagement of the businesses and licensees affected by the codes should be strengthened.

“While we have the national Code, having a sector code is also important. We only need to work harmoniously to ensure we collectively achieve our objective.“The aim is to ensure that more Nigerian businesses survive by making them more resilient through corporate governance codes and ultimately ensure that we make our economy more attractive to investors and as such, we need to collaborate more as organisations.,” he stated.