Business

NITDA Bill: Concerns over NASS’ short notice, timing for public hearing

Published

2 years ago

December 23, 2022

In what has been described as ambush of sort for the industry, the National Assembly has fixed the public hearing of the ‘controversial’ National Information Technology Development Agent (NITDA) Act Amendment Bill to today, Friday.

The development followed a public notice put out by the NASS Joint Committee on ICT and Cyber Security yesterday, giving only a day notice to stakeholders expected to be at the event scheduled to take place by 9:00 a.m today.

However, while the notice was considered short for necessary stakeholders including representatives of Ministries Departments and Agencies, Civil Society Organisatons (CSOs), business community and the general public to make meaningful preparation to make inputs on the proposed Bill, the timing was also considered inappropriate, as NASS embarked on a recess as from today (Friday) while it resumed official functions on December 28, 2022.

A public notice by the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives in ICT and Cyber Security, inviting stakeholders and members of the general public to the one-day public hearing to discuss the NITDA Amendment Bill 2021 was signed by the Clerk to the Senate Committee on ICT and Cyber Security, Ayoh Ogon and the Clerk, House Committee on ICT, Mrs. Abosi Onyesikadi Lolo.

Specifically, the public hearing is on “A bill for an Act to Repeal the National Information Technology Development Agency Act No. 28, 2007 and enact the NITDA Act to provide for the Administration, Implementation and Regulation of Information Technology Systems and Practices, as well as Digital Economy in Nigeria and for Related Matters, 2022.”

However, it was gathered that upon the publication of the 24 hours public notice yesterday, stakeholders from MDAs of the Federal and State governments, the entire business community, especially players in the ICT/telecoms industry, as well as the general public have expressed ‘grave concerns’ on the rationale for the short public notice for an important assignment centring on a bill, whose provisions have become a subject of controversies arising from overlapping provisions in the Bill with functions of other existing government agencies.

The stakeholders have kicked against the 24 hours public notice given by the National Assembly to host the republic hearing on the Bill, being championed by NITDA, the agency established in 2007 to see to the Information Technology Policies formulation and implementation across the country.

“The public notice was published in some newspapers today, inviting stakeholders to attend a public hearing slated for Friday, December 23, 2022 at the Senate Building, National Assembly Abuja by 9:00 a.m. We feel this is an ambush as the time is very short and also it is fixed at a time when the NASS would have been on recess,” a senior and concerned stakeholder in one of the federal MDAs told The Guardian on phone yesterday on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to comment on the issue.

An official of one of the major ICT body, which represents the industry, though planned to be at the hearing, however, described the move as a plan to ensure NITDA eventually usurps powers of other agencies of government.

“I will suggest that NITDA should focus on capacity building, which it has been known for and marshal it very well, instead of deviating from that. Deviation into looking for a regulatory power that inadvertently encroaches on the powers of some existing agencies could spell doom in the future.”

A telecoms expert, Kehinde Aluko is worried about the timing, saying that “the event is coming on the eve of Christmas and New Year when most stakeholders, who could have been in attendance, would have travelled for festivities, thereby excluding them from participating to air their views to address grey areas of overlapping or usurpation of other agencies’ statutory powers and authorities.”

Checks by The Guardian from likely organisations, especially those within the ICT ecosystem that normally would be expected to be in attendance, revealed that they were not aware of the public hearing. For instance, the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS); Computer and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria (CAPDAN); Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), among others are not aware.

Earlier in the year, some industry associations flayed the proposed NITDA Bill, one of which was the Computer Professionals (Registration Council of Nigeria) (CPN), which condemned the proposed NITDA Bill 2021 in its entirety.

CPN in a statement, signed by its Registrar/Secretary to Council, Muhammad Bello Aliyu, had said it observed that the NITDA Bill 2021 “arrogates powers of several other regulatory agencies to NITDA, which is an infringement on the statutory powers of other agencies of government like CPN, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Galaxy backbone, Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the National Universities Commission (NUC), among others.”

The computer professionals said that stakeholders, who attended an earlier meeting held by NITDA in February, 2022, were unanimous in their opinions that several sections in the proposed NITDA Bill was a usurpation of the statutory powers of other agencies of government that had been in existence before NITDA, and which have been performing their statutory roles.

“For instance, Section 6, 13, 20, 21, and 22, which talked about NITDA’s power, licensing and authorisations, offences and penalties, among others, raised some pertinent issues.

“Section 6 arrogated new powers to NITDA, which included the ability to fix licensing and authorisation charges, collect fees and penalties and issue contravention notices and non-compliance with the Act,” the body stated.

According to CPN, all the agencies present during the February 2022 stakeholders’ engagement convened by NITDA, were unanimous in their opinion that the offending sections of the proposed NITDA Bill, giving NITDA powers to perform other agencies’ functions, should be expunged.

CPN said it strongly believes that NITDA should stick to its role as an IT development agency and stop seeking regulatory roles since there is so much that is yet to be done under information technology development in the country.

Similarly, a similar webinar convened by NITDA in March 2022, bringing lawyers together, to examine the provisions of the NITDA Amendment Bill 2021 was also met with unexpected condemnations of a number of sections, promoting them to call on the drafters of the Bill to go back to drawing table to ensure it toes a neutral path the does not make it arrogate the power of existing government agencies to itself, a development that could necessitate more conflict regulatory interest in the future.

The proposed NITDA (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill 2021 not only seeks to convert the agency into another regulator that will be wrestling powers from its regulators but prescribes asphyxiating punitive regime for business owners.

During the March 2022 webinar, the President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Olumide Apata, who was represented by ICT Committee Chairman of NBA- Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) Chairman, Rotimi Ogunyemi, raised three fundamental concerns on the proposed Bill, central of which was how the NITDA Bill intends to navigate its way within the broad context of other regulatory functions of other regulatory agencies to eschew functions overlap; and the impact of the harsh penalties for violation of certain sections of the Bill on the ICT business environment.

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Businesses count losses amid power outage in Bauchi, Gombe, and Jigawa

Published

2 months ago

October 28, 2024

Matthew Eloyi

Business owners in Bauchi, Gombe and Jigawa are recording losses due to week-long blackout ocassioned by vandalism of the power transmission line in parts of northern Nigeria.

The sudden disruption in electricity supply in the past days, also affected essential services such as water, sanitation, street lighting and healthcare delivery as most hospitals have been operating without light.

Some of the affected businesses including shop keepers, millers and artisans, who spoke while reacting to a survey by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), described the situation as “pathetic”.

The survey examined the perennial collapse of national grid and the need for alternative power supply in the country.

Rice millers in Gombe had decried the impact of the erratic power supply on their businesses.

A Miller, Musa Arab, at Nassarawo Industrial Layout in Gombe, said the trend was crippling their operations as they relied on electricity supply from the grid to process paddy.

He said the mills were not operational power outage as they could not afford exorbitant pump prices of petrol or diesel to run their machines.

This, he said, reduced the volume of rice supply to the market and posed serious challenge to food security.

“We must invest in power because it is the biggest determining factor for industries to thrive.

“I have over 20 workers in my mill, and we have 100 mini rice mills here, so you can imagine those who have no jobs for the past 10 days.

“Government must go tough on those responsible for the perennial grid collapse because some persons may be benefitting from it,” he said.

Also, Yusuf Ibrahim said the situation might trigger the already fragile inflation, as prices of local varieties would shot up ocassioned by the diminish supply.

He said that some had jerked up their charges to cover the expenses on diesel thereby affecting rice prices.

A check by NAN at the Gombe Main market showed that a 100 kilogramme of rice was sold for between N120,000 and N160,000, as against N110,000 and N150,000, before the blackout.

Mr Usman Sani, a rice dealer, attributed the hike in price to low supply of the produce to the market in spite of the number harvest recorded this cropping season.

He said the prices had decreased slightly at the onset of the harvest, however, it showed sprawling increase due to power outage.

“The price of rice is already dropping as a result of harvest but the trend reverse since the blackout in the past days “ he said.

Ugochukwu Daniel, a bartender in Bauchi, decried the epileptic power supply in the country, adding that lack of durable energy supply would retard Nigeria’s quest to attain social and economic greatness.

Daniel said that she spent much on fuel to run power generator for refrigrator and lightening the beer parlour, to enable her to keep the business running.

He said that businesses could only thrive in an enabling environment with stable electricity supply, to enhance wealth creation and reduce poverty among Nigerians.

“My trade is about chill drinks and it survives on electricity to operate otherwise you will out of bussiness.

“Without electricity there is nothing you can do, and not only business but about everything. We depend on it,” he said.

Similarly, Samuel Adamu, said the persistent power outage had forced him to patronised charcoal for ironing clothes in spite of its high cost and cumbersome processes.

He said that most cleaners in the area had resorted to fabricated iron charcoal in spite of hike in its prices which suddenly jumped from N5,000 to N15,000.

Adamu said the situation also encouraged division of labour in laundry to cut cost and make some gains.

“Presently, I do wash the cloth, and engage someone for ironing. The charge is N300 per set as against N150”.

While advocated development of renewable energies to enhance power supply in the country, Adamu urged security agencies to entensify efforts towards electrical installations in the country.

In the same vein; Mr Muhammad Adamu, Chairman, Jigawa State House Assembly Commitee on Power and Energy, said the Jigawa Electricity Law 2024, made sound provisions to improve power generation and distribution in the state.

This, he said, was an offshoot of the devaluation brought about by the 5th alteration of the constitution, where removed power from the executive legislative list and to the concurrent list.

“It empowered the state houses of assembly to enact laws on power.

“The committee has also carefully pursued the bill and reviewed its structure and the promise it holds for the state power sector, infrastructure and the overall economy of the state.

“The new law will pave way for the establishment of Jigawa Electricity Commission, to regulate the state’s electricity market,” he said.

According to Adamu, the law will protect residents and investors in the energy sector through ensuring prepaid meter installation and possibility of recouping investor’s funds as well as address vandalism.

“The law will lead to provision of reliable, affordable and sustainable power, essential for development of all sectors of the economy, particularly in rural areas,” Adamu said.

“Vandalism will be over because we pay Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) money for powered supplies, but whenever there is problem of damages or broken down transformers, it is either the communities or individuals that pay for the repairs”.

Business

Mercedes urges delay of EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles

Published

2 months ago

October 21, 2024

Matthew Eloyi

Mercedes urges delay of EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles

The head of German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz, has called for the European Union to de-escalate the dispute with China over tariffs on electric cars.

“We need more free trade instead of new trade barriers.

“That is why it is important to find a solution that suits both the EU and China,” chief executive Ola Källenius told the Monday edition of Bild newspaper.

“The negotiations for this take time. In order not to jeopardise them, the EU should postpone the enforcement of the planned tariffs,’’ he said.

At the start of the month, a majority of EU countries paved the way for additional tariffs of up to 35.3 per cent on battery-powered electric vehicles imported from China.

Germany, however, voted against the measure amid concerns over retaliatory actions which could hurt the country’s giant car industry.

The European Commission had pressed for extra tariffs after an investigation accused Beijing of subsidising domestic electric car manufacturers, and thus distorting the market in the EU.

But whether the import tariffs would actually come into force at the beginning of November is still up to the commission.

The plans can still be dismissed if Brussels reaches a solution with China at the negotiating table.

Business

ACCI moves to promote business connections, balance work-life

Published

2 months ago

October 16, 2024

Matthew Eloyi

ACCI moves to promote business connections, balance work-life

The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), is taking innovative steps to enhance professional relationships and promote a healthy work-life balance.

The President of ACCI, Dr Emeka Obegolu, said this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

Obegolu said ACCI was committed to creating environments where professionals could connect beyond the confines of traditional boardrooms.

He said the upcoming “Business Meets Golf’’ Tournament epitomises this vision.

“Scheduled for Oct. 18 to Oct 19 at the IBB Golf Club, the tournament will gather industry leaders, top executives, and key decision-makers for a unique networking experience.

“This two-day event aims not only to strengthen business ties but also to foster partnerships that can drive economic growth.

“The ACCI’s initiative reistates the importance of maintaining a balance between professional achievement and personal well-being.

“By encouraging corporate cultures that prioritise relaxation and self-care, the Chamber acknowledges that such balance is vital for productivity and overall success,” he said.

According to Obegolu, the event will feature a range of activities designed to facilitate both business engagement and relaxation.

“Highlights include a Business-to-Business (B2B) cocktail on the first day, followed by the golf tournament and additional networking opportunities on the second day.

“The tournament will culminate in an awards ceremony recognising outstanding golfers among the participants.

“‘Business Meets Golf’ exemplifies our dedication to fostering innovative networking opportunities.

“We aim to create spaces for meaningful discussions that can lead to impactful collaborations,” Obegolu said.

The ACCI boss said in addition to promoting business connectivity, the council aimed to restate the importance of relaxation and a balanced lifestyle.

Obegolu said through events like this, the Chamber continued to play a pivotal role in supporting trade and industry in Nigeria while driving sustainable growth within the private sector.

He said to raise awareness about this landmark event, ACCI was partnering with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and Media Trust Limited, to ensure broad visibility and engagement from leading brands.