News
NCC Resolves 99.2% of Telecom Consumer Complaints in Q1 2021

Nasiru Yusuf
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has resolved 99.2 per cent of service-related complaints received from telecom consumers across the major network operators in Q1, 2021.
According to the Q1, 2021 Report on Complaint Management issued by the Consumer Affairs Bureau of the Commission, a total of 3,019 consumer complaints were received from four complaint channels established by the Commission as compared to 2,854 complaints received in the Q1, 2020.
KANO FOCUS reports that the consumer complaint channels include the Commission’s Contact Centre, through which the toll-free number 622 is managed, NCC Consumer Portal, NCC social media platforms and written complaints.

A statement sent to KANO FOCUS by the commission’s spokesperson Ikechukwu Adinde of the 3,019 consumer complaints, 2,995 consumer complaints, representing 99.2 per cent, were successfully resolved while only 24, representing 0.8 per cent, which were escalated to service providers, are pending resolution from the respective service providers in line with the revised Consumer Complaint/Service Level Agreement (CC/SLA) of 2019.
A breakdown of the consumer complaints received within the period under review shows that 2,759 (91.4 per cent) came through the NCC Contact Centre; 188 (6.2 per cent) were received via the NCC Consumer Portal; 50 (1.7 per cent) complaints came to the Commission through its various social media platforms, while 22 (0.7 per cent) were written complaints.
With respect to breakdown by service providers’ customers, 1,261 (51.8 per cent) of the total complaints were lodged by MTN customers, 973 representing 32.2 per cent relate to Airtel subscribers, 549 (18.2 per cent) were accounted for by Globacom subscribers; 179 (5.9 per cent) by 9Mobile customers, while the remaining 52 complaints came from customers of other licensees.
On a month-on-month basis, 971 complaints were received in January, 1,039 in February and 1,009 in March. The report also shows that issues related to billings, quality of service/experience for voice as well as quality of service/experience for data were the three topmost complaint types from telecom consumers in the period under review.
Commenting on the report, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, said NCC, as a consumer-centric telecoms regulator, will continue to explore new initiatives to strengthen the existing consumer complaints management process while ensuring prompt and satisfactory resolution of all complaints.
He urged the consumers to continue to take advantage of the various channels made available by the Commission, including the 622 toll-free consumer complaints line, the Commission’s consumer web portal on its website and other social media channels to promptly lodge their complaints in the event of service dissatisfaction.
“NCC’s actions in this regard are in line with its mandate to protect and defend the rights and interests of the consumer, and to give concrete expression to its faith in the consumer as the lifeblood of the telecoms sector,” Danbatta said.
Expressing satisfaction with the report, Danbatta emphasised that the Commission will remain committed, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, to continually improve quality of service both for voice and data services, assuring consumers of NCC’s readiness to always defend their rights and interests.

Headlines
Kano Governor-elect pledges to reintroduce Kwankwasiyya free education, healthcare schemes

Aminu Abdullahi
The Kano State Governor-elect, Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf, has reaffirmed his government’s readiness to fix quickly the problems with the provision of potable water, basic education and good healthcare which are fundamental duties of a responsive government.
KANO FOCUS reports that the Spokesperson to the Governor-elect, Sanusi Bature Dawakin-Tofa revealed this in a statement issued on Friday.
Dawakintofa said, “despite huge tax payers’ money the outgoing administration claimed to have committed to the provision of basic water, Kano households strive in the twenty-first century to access safe drinking water in the State endowed with functional dams and resources to provide basic amenities.”
In his acceptance speech, the Governor-elect reassured Kano people that beyond fixing basic water supply, the incoming government will uphold the Kwankwasiyya philosophy with a wider scope of free education at primary and secondary levels involving provision of school uniform, learning materials, meals, conducive environment, paying SSCE fees for the students, training and motivation for the teachers to impart good quality education.

The incoming administration, which he said will be an off-shot of Kwankwaso administration, will be committed to free maternal and child healthcare programmes just as plans are underway for the upgrading of local health facilities across the 44 Local Government Areas of Kano State.
To bridge the human capital gap in the various public institutions, Engr. Abba administration will rebirth Kwankwasiyya scholarship scheme for tertiary education and terminal degrees in special areas such as medicine, science and engineering in foreign countries.
It is a resolution that the incoming government will complete abandoned projects and continue with laudable populist policies of Kwankwasiyya administrations just as youth empowerment and enabling environment for MSMES and entrepreneurship to flourish will be provided as enshrined in the Campaign Blueprint.

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TMG, CISLAC, CSOs dismiss report calling for review of Kano Governorship Election

Aminu Abdullahi
The Transition Monitoring Group, TMG, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center, CISLAC and the Kano Civil Society Elections Situation Room have distanced themselves from call seeking for the review of the Kano Gubernatorial Election.

KANO FOCUS reports that Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, Chairman TMG on Saturday told journalists at a news conference in Kano the group which identified itself as Accredited INEC Elections Observers are “fake, faceless and politically sponsored”.
Rafsanjani who was flanked by the Convener, Kano Civil Society Elections Situation Room, Ambassador Ibrahim Waiya lamented that the spread of the fictitious and malicious group at a time when Nigeria is having it’s political space heated up is not only worrisome, but also has the potential to further over heat the polity.
Mr. Rafsanjani, warned that “as genuine Transition Monitoring Group and Civil Society Groups are left without options but to take necessary legal actions against these faceless Group using their names to championed a Criminal minded, Politically Motivated and sponsored missions.”
Rafsanjani, warned that, “as Champions of Democracy, we will not allow smear-campaigners and people with politically motivated reasons drag credible Civil Society Organizations in Kano State and indeed in Nigeria at large into political wars with political parties”.
The CISLAC boss said “TMG, CISLAC and the Kano Civil Society Forum have done incredible Work towards electoral reforms in Nigeria, since 1998, TMG has Championed the Democratic path in Nigeria as the foremost elections Observation group with the widest membership across the Nation”.
He noted, “we will never interfere with the conduct of elections or seek to interfere with the Judicial processes leading up to a Redress of grievances resulting from the elections”.
For that the TMG called on public to disregard in totality the reports making round and using the names of credible organizations and called for the review of Governorship Elections in Kano.

Ambassador Ibrahim Waiya
Also in his speech, the Convener, Kano Civil Society Elections Situation Room, Ambassador Ibrahim Waiya, urged the Media to filter credible Civil Society Groups from faceless, politically motivated sponsored groups who hide under the names of credible organizations to concoct fake stories that suits their narratives.

Headlines
Nigeria recorded 3.9m cyberattacks before, during, after governorship elections

Mukhtar Yahaya Usman
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim aww Pantami has drawn the attention of the digital economy stakeholders and the general public to the ministry’s activities before, during, and after the 2023 gubernatorial and states’ houses of assembly elections.
KANO FOCUS reports that Pantami said the committee, which he inaugurated to monitor Nigeria’s cyberspace, recorded a total of 3,834,244 attacks, originating from both within and outside Nigeria, before, during and after the gubernatorial and State Houses of Assembly elections across the country.
According to a statement released yesterday by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and signed by the Senior Technical Assistant (Research and Development) to the Minister, Dr. Femi Adelusi, the daily breakdown of the attacks showed that on Friday 17th March, 2023, there were 1,046,896 cyberattacks; On Saturday 18th March, 2023, there were 1,481,847 Cyberattacks; On Sunday 19th March, 2023, there were 327,718 Cyberattacks and on Monday 20th March, 2023, there were 977,783 Cyberattacks.
The statement further stated that activities on the Nigerian cyberspace during the Gubernatorial and State Assembly elections, we’re much lower than those during the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

“This is neither surprising nor unexpected as, Nigeria being Africa’s largest democracy, the Presidential and National Assembly elections are bound to attract much attention of everyone, including cyberthreat actors than during the Gubernatorial and State Assembly elections.
“The Minister is confident that the implementation of some recommendations as well as measures taken to fortify our cyber defence mechanisms might have helped in this,” the statement further said.
Pantami reiterated that the attainments would not have been possible without the continued support of President Muhammadu Buhari, in particular, and the administration in general, towards ensuring Nigeria’s successful transition into the digital economy.
“The digital economy sector has enjoyed Mr President’s unprecedented support and it is highly appreciated,” Pantami said.
Based on the Minister’s directives, the committee provided close oversight on the activities of the cybersecurity Centres, from Friday 17th March, 2023 to Monday 20th March, 2023.
During this period and as previously reported, a series of hacking attempts were recorded, including Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), email and Internet Protocol Spoofing (IPS) attacks, SSH Login Attempts, Brute force Injection attempts, Path Traversal, Detection Evasion, and Forceful Browsing, the statement further explained.
