Menu

President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the Senate to confirm the reappointment of Umar Danbatta for a second term as the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). A letter from Buhari requesting the confirmation was read by Senate President Ahmad Lawan during the senate plenary on Tuesday.

According to Buhari, his request was in accordance with the provision of Section 8(1) of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003. The request comes one month after the president had announced the reappointment of Danbatta for another term of five years, subject to the Senate's confirmation.  

The reappointment also comes at a time when significant investment is needed to expand coverage of broadband connectivity in the country. Broadband penetration in Nigeria remains weak at 37.8 per cent as at 2019, according to a report by Afrinvest West Africa. "The Nigerian Telecommunications Industry Report" by Afrinvest also shows the sector has been one of the most resilient in the country since the 2016 recession, with growth averaging 6.9 per cent between 2017 and 2019. The sector's contribution to GDP last year was 10.3 per cent.

Danbatta was first appointed by Buhari in August 2015 to replace Eugene Juwah who served one term as Executive Vice Chairman of the telecommunications industry regulator. In a statement last month, the NCC stated that the reappointment of its current EVC/CEO was based on the recommendation of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.

Until his appointment, Danbatta was the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the Kano University of Science and Technology, Wudil, Kano State. He holds BEng and MSc degrees from the Technical University of Wroclaw in Poland and a PhD from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), United Kingdom.

According to the NCC, he was the Vice President of the Digital Bridge Institute’s (DBI) International Centre for Advanced Communications Studies, which was established by the regulator in 2004. The centre was set up to build capacity for the Nigerian and African telecom industry in the diverse areas of information and communication technology (ICT).