July 27, 2021

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), in a bid to further protect telecoms infrastructure in the country, has reiterated its commitment to continue to strengthen collaboration with judicial institutions in Nigeria.

Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, Director, Public Affairs, NCC, made this known in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

The statement said that the Executive Vice-Chairman (EVC) of the Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, gave the assurance during a courtesy visit by a delegation of the Kano State Judiciary to the NCC’s Kano Zonal Office.

Danbatta said that the Commission was doing everything within its regulatory mandate to enforce compliance among licencees as well as collaborating with stakeholders to protect telecom infrastructure.

He expressed regrets that some individuals indulged in willful damage of telecom infrastructure, vandalism, telecoms facility theft, and fibre optics cuts, among other crimes.

He said that criminals conspired to degrade the quality of service (QoS) in the country and, since the NCC had no prosecutorial power, the need to strengthen collaboration with the judicial arm of the government at all levels became expedient.

The EVC said that the recently-concluded NCC’s Judges Workshop held in Abuja, was a very important initiative of the Commission to continuously collaborate with members of the judicial arm of government.

He said that it was a good avenue toward updating the judiciary with the trends and regulatory dynamism of the sector with a view to improving their knowledge for effective dispensation of justice.

“NCC does not have prosecutorial power in criminal acts committed by the citizens and licencees which are inimical to the progress of the sector.

“We appreciate the ways and manners such criminal cases are being dispensed by the judiciary.

“This is a testimony to the kind cooperation NCC has been enjoying from the judiciary,” he said.

“The Commission will never fold its arms while unscrupulous citizens cause havoc on telecommunications infrastructure since that affects the quality of service innocent citizens enjoy.

“Therein lies the importance of the judiciary in the work that we have been assigned by the government to do.

“We very much appreciate this cooperation with the judiciary and we are committed to ensure that the cooperation grows stronger and stronger going forward,” the statement said.

The Chief Registrar of Kano State High Court of Justice, Alhaji Abdullahi Ado Bayero, who led the delegation, commended the efforts of NCC in fast-tracking digital transformation of governance and other sectors of the economy.

Bayero said that Judiciary, as a whole, had recognised the necessity and inevitability of digital justice system as well as full integration of ICT-based court system in the administration of justice.

He said that this position was well entrenched in the National Judiciary Information Technology Policy (NJITP), 2021, and was consistent with the NCC’s objective and strategic intervention to advance ICT knowledge and training for various public institutions in Nigeria.

“It is in line with the above that the Kano State Judiciary is determined to explore all necessary avenues and opportunities to integrate ICT-based court systems as well as digitised justice delivery systems.

“This is for efficient and effective administration of justice in the state and we request NCC’s intervention in this regard,” he said.