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Pantami Commends Agencies in the Communications Sector

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Nasiru Yusuf

 

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), has commended all the agencies in the communications and digital economy sector for being dedicated to the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) 2020-2030, and urged them to work collaboratively and co-ordinately in order to achieve the Federal Government’s strategic objectives as articulated in NDEPS.

KANO FOCUS reportsthat Pantami stated this at a retreat organised by Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (FMoCDE) for senior management staff of the Ministry and all its agencies which commenced on March 31, 2022.

The retreat was convened to evaluate the implementation of NDEPS in the context of what has been achieved, what needs to be achieved, and what processes should be emplaced to enhance the capacity of the Ministry and Agencies it superintends to mobilise all stakeholders to accomplish the objectives of NDEPS.

The retreat took place at the Nigerian Army Officers Wives’ Association (NAOWA) Centre at Mambilla Barracks, Abuja.

Citing the most recent report of the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Minister in his keynote and opening address told the forum that synergy among stakeholders in terms of co-operative posture, collaboration, coordination, deployment of social skills such as good listening skills, critical and analytical thinking, emotional intelligence, as well as project management and quality assurance skills, are central to organisational effectiveness, successes and the future of work, as projected by WEF.

Pantami then urged all the agencies and their staff to challenge themselves to do more rather than think of themselves as competitors.

Also speaking at the retreat, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta asserted that the NCC has acted superlatively in implementing NDEPS and in the context of the vision of Federal Government and the supervision of the Ministry.

Danbatta who made clearly methodical presentation that chronologically documented NCC accomplishments under each of the eight (8) pillars of NDEPS, cited 10 of the 16 regulations that have been instituted in giving expression to Governments vision on developmental regulation, which is the first pillar of NDEPS.

These regulations were focused on Enforcement Processes, Lawful Interception, Quality of Service, Competition Practices, Licensing Regulations, and Universal Access and Universal Service among others.

Danbatta promised to also complete the review of the remaining soonest and activate their implementation. Danbatta, who used a triangulation method in contextualising the achievement of NCC under the first pillar, itemised the guidelines, regulations and policy development initiatives to discharge the burden of proof of NCC’s effectiveness in the regulation of ICT and digital economy sector through approaches that enabled development.

In implementing Digital Literacy and Skills, the second pillar, Danbatta also stated in his clearly explanatory presentation, that the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), set up by NCC in 2004, had trained 5,352 students through 49 institutions, provided educational training software to 398 secondary schools, and endowed 7 professorial chairs in various Nigerian universities across all the geopolitical zones.

On Solid Infrastructure, the third pillar of NDEPS, Danbatta stated that broadband penetration as at December 2021 was 40.88 percent, thus enabling 80 million Nigerians to have access to broadband services.

To reinforce the intensity of NCC’s commitment to improving broadband penetration, the EVC declared to the forum that NCC has emplaced a process for the deployment of optic fibre cable using Infrastructure Companies (Infracos).

Danbatta was emphatic that the licensed Infracos have been directed by the Commission to commence immediate roll out without recourse to counterpart funding because the licence issued to them is independent of the counterpart funding agreement.

The Infracos are expected to lay 38,296Km of fibre optic cable. Also, in keeping with Government’s directive through a Federal Executive Council decision of 2005, NCC has constructed 32 Emergency Communication Centres (EECs) in various states, and 32 of those have been activated and are operational.

Prof. Danbatta also documented copiously in his presentation, Commission’s achievement in the other five pillar areas.

Dr. Armstrong Takang, an innovative and technology-for-development specialist, who presented the lead paper as guest speaker, praised the Federal Government for concretely aligning ICT, and digital economy with national economic imperatives.

Additionally, he commended NCC for driving the necessary infrastructure purposely and strategically, and for its effectiveness in regulating the telecom sector.

Takang, citing Lagos State and the Federal Capital Territory Administration as good models, Takang emphasised the correlates of adoption of technology or automation in economic growth and effective governance, crediting technology for improved internally-generated revenue in Lagos State.

Takang recommended that Nigeria must link technology to specific programmes that are impacting and sustainable. He also asserted that Nigeria needs to undertake pilots for projects that are planned for implementation and utilise the results of the pilots to scale up and for budgeting.

Takang also bemoaned the human capital challenge in the ICT sector in Nigeria, insisting that at least 500,000 software engineers are required to redirect efforts for effectiveness of policy.

The Director overseeing the Office of the Permanent Secretary in FMoCDE, Engr. Abubakar Ladan, and the following CEOs of the other agencies in the Ministry also made presentations on their efforts and activities towards accomplishing the objectives of NDEPS: Mr. Ayuba Shuaibu, Acting Executive Secretary, Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF); Dr. Abimbola Alale, Managing Director of Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), represented by Engr. Abdulrahman Adajah; Engr. Aliyu Aziz, Director General, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC); Kachifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); Prof. Muhammed Abubakar, Managing Director, Galaxy Backbone Plc; Dr. Adebayo Adewusi, Postmaster General of the Federation and Managing Director, Nigeria Postal Services (NIPOST); and Dr. Vincent Olatunji, National Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB). All the agencies and the Ministry were well represented at the retreat by at least 6 officers in the directorate cadre.

The retreat will end on April 1, 2022.

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Gawuna, APC reject Kano governorship election, ask INEC to declare exercise inconclusive

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Aminu Abdullahi

All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in the last Saturday gubernatorial election, Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna on Tuesday rejected the declaration of Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria People’s Party NNPP as the winner of the poll in Kano state.

KANO FOCUS reports that Gawuna in his first public appearance after the poll, spoke during a press conference by the party in the state capital.

The Deputy Governor who admitted that power comes from Almighty Allah, however said he aligned with the positions of the party which among others gave INEC 7 days ultimatum to declared the governorship poll inconclusive.

Gawuna who was in the company of party leaders, said it was astonishing that with the same election, 16 of the House of Assembly elections held same day and same conditions were declared inconclusive by INEC.

Meanwhile, the APC in Kano has rejected the announcement of Abba Kabir Yusif of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as winner of the just concluded governorship election in Kano calling for immediate review of the election result by the electoral umpire within seven days.

The APC chairman, who was represented by the party’s legal adviser, Abdul Adamu Fagge insists that the election should be declared inconclusive because the cancelled votes were greater than the margin between the first and the second parties of NNPP and APC respectively as provided by the Electoral Act.

Fagge said that there was no way the election could be declared conclusive with over 270,000 votes cancelled which a margin shows is bigger than the winner’s votes.

The party also drew attention to the cancellation of sixteen House of Assembly elections in the state, sighting violence as the reason, while the same votes were considered in collating the governorship election.

It expressed dismay saying the two elections took place same day, same time, same places and under the same circumstances.

Fagge said, “based on section 65 of the Electoral Laws 2022, we have written to INEC to revisit and cancel the hasty, wrong and selfish declaration of the NNPP as winner of the elections, and declared the conduct inconclusive”.

He said they have since written to INEC to within seven days revisit the elections based on the provisions of the Electoral laws and declare it Inconclusive.

The Legal Adviser  explained that INEC Returning Officer, acted not on the only basis of the provisions of laws.

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Kano govt lifts dawn to dusk curfew

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Abdullahi Ganduje

Mukhtar Yahaya Usman

The Kano State Government has lifted the dawn-to-dusk curfew imposed in the state.

KANO FOCUS  reports that the state government on Monday imposed the curfew with a view to avoiding a breakdown of law and order.

The order followed tensions generated from the collation of results of the governorship and state Assembly elections.

The state Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Muhammad Garba, made the announcement lifting the curfew in a statement issued on Monday night.

He said the decision to lift the curfew followed a careful review of the situation and the relative calm throughout the state.

The commissioner called on commercial banks, public servants and the people in the state to continue their normal activities.

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2023: Abba Kabir Yusuf wins Kano governorship election

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Aminu Abdullahi 

The New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, has defeated the All Progressive Party to win Saturday’s governorship election in Kano State.

KANO FOCUS reports that Abba Kabir Yusuf of the NNPP was declared the winner with 1,019,602 votes against his closest rival, APC’s candidate, Nasir Gawuna, who polled 890,705 votes.

The Independent National Electoral Commission Returning officer, Prof Ahmad Doko Ibrahim, announced Yusuf as the winner of the Kano gubernatorial election on Monday morning.

The declaration brought intense electioneering and Saturday election in Kano to an end as two ‘king makers’ – former Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and incumbent Governor Abdullahi Ganduje – in the state tested their might. While Kwankwaso backed Yusuf, Ganduje routed for Gawuna, his deputy, to succeed him.

Yusuf’s profile 

Born to the family of Malam Kabiru Yusuf and Malama Khadijatul-Naja’atu in Gaya Local Government Area of Kano State on 5th January 1963, Abba attended Sumaila primary school between 1968 and 1975.

He then proceeded to Government Secondary School Dawakin Tofa and later moved to Government Secondary school Lautai in Gumel where he completed his secondary education in 1980.

Abba Kabir Yusuf bagged a National Diploma (ND) from the Federal Polytechnic Mubi in 1985 and a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Civil Engineering from Kaduna Polytechnic in 1989.

He later obtained a postgraduate diploma in management and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Bayero University, Kano.

Gida-Gida’s grandfather, Alhaji Yusuf Bashari, under whom the NNPP governorship candidate started his Islamic education, was Danmakwaiyon Kano and a former District Head of Gaya.

Abba Gida-Gida began his career with the Kano State Water Resources Engineering and Construction Agency (WRECA), Kano State Water Board and later moved to the state Ministry of Water Resources where he held various positions.

He was appointed as Personal Assistant to the then Kano State Governor, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso and later Special Assistant (Administration) between 1999 – 2003.

Abba worked again with Kwankwaso from 2003 to 2006 when the former governor of Kano State was appointed Minister of Defence.

He served as the Special Assistant to the Special Adviser to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on Darfur/Somalia until 2007.

Abba was also appointed by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua as the chairman, Governing Board of the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), Ondo State from 2009 to 2011.

During Kwankwaso’s second tenure in office, Abba was appointed as the First Principal Private Secretary (PPS) to the governor; and subsequently the state’s Commissioner for Works, Housing and Transport.

The closely contested 2019 governorship election in Kano between the PDP and the ruling APC brought Abba Gida-Gida to the limelight.

Kwankwaso’s anointed candidate contested against the incumbent Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje in an election that was declared inconclusive; but lost after a rerun.

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