EFCC Partners NCC On Corruption

Ibrahim Lamorde,
Chairman EFCC

CHAIRMAN of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde has commended the partnership between the EFCC and the Nigerian Communication Commission, NCC, in the fight against corruption in Nigeria.

Lamorde made the commendation Thursday during a sensitization programme organized for management and staff of the NCC in Abuja.

Lamorde who was represented by Osita Nwajah, deputy director, Public Affairs said the programme is designed to foster collaboration with NCC as a key player in the fight against corruption particularly in information and communication sector in Nigeria .

Nigeria has emerged pride of Africa in telecoms, says Juwah

Four years ago, Dr. Eugene Juwah assumed duties as the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) . Since then, he has taken some bold decisions to sanitise the industry, which have impacted positively on the sector. In this chat with media executives, he gives an insight into the landmarks that have defined his tenure. Excerpts.

YOU rolled out a six-point agenda on assumption of office, would you say you have fully implemented them?

Actually I can summarise the six-point agenda in the following way; we wanted to consolidate the progress made before we came, and we wanted to improve quality of service (QoS), to enhance broadband implementation, improve competition, provide diversified choices for consumers at good quality and price and improve our presence in the international space.

Juwah: We Have Created More Jobs as Telecoms Investments Now Stand at $32bn

Dr. Eugene Juwah,
Exec. Vice. Chairman NCC

The Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah, is four years on the job. Recently, he reflected on his tenure and other key issues in the telecoms sector. Emma Okonji presents the excerpts:

Did you ever envisage being Nigeria's telecoms regulator?

As you know, I’ve been in the ICT industry for a very long time, starting from my days in the early 70s at Shell. In 1990 I specifically moved to telecoms, so I’ve had the advantage of seeing the development of telecommunication in Nigeria. And since 1990 I’ve worked in telecoms I’ve interacted intensively with the regulators; I’ve quarreled with them, I’ve admired them depending on what issue is at stake here. I must tell you honestly I never aimed at being the primary telecom regulator in Nigeria. I admire regulators when they did things that were in my favour when I was in the private sector. And I quarreled with them when they did things against me. But as I said, I never aimed specific to be the regulator until I was asked to apply. Graciously Mr. President selected me and the senate confirmed the selection.

MTN illegally moves money out of Nigeria

A former General Manager for Internal Audit at MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, Thuli Mashanda, has told the National Industrial Court of Nigeria that the company sacked her because she reported an alleged act of fraud to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Testifying for a former Network Group Operations Manager, Mr Paul Odunewu, who sued MTN, Mashanda said her employers were not happy when she made a report to the anti-graft agency.

Odunewu accused the company of withholding his entitlements, including a long-term incentive scheme (share option) worth over $13.14 million (about N2.1 billion). He is also demanding N100 million damages, among others. The embattled manager said despite being responsible for MTN's

Nigeria to lower taxes for telecom firms

Dr. Mrs. Omobola Johnson,
Minister of Comm. Tech.

The minister of communications technology Omobola Johnson has revealed plans to lower taxes on telecommunications infrastructure to encourage companies invest more on networks in Nigeria.

“For every  that is spent on infrastructure, about 70 percent of it is spent on taxes,” she said in an interview with Bloomberg in Abuja. “We’re going to bring that down to a much more reasonable level at 30 to 40 percent.”

Mobile-phone companies including Johannesburg-based MTN and Airtel of India have examined ways to offload networks to reduce exposure to costly African infrastructure.