Benjamin Babine, Abuja
Following President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval of Prof Umar Danbatta to continue a second term as Executive Vice-Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the President on Tuesday wrote to the Senate seeking the confirmation of Dambatta as EVC.
In a letter read on the floor of the Senate by the President, Dr Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, the confirmation was in line with the provisions of section 8 subsection 1 of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) Act 2003.
The letter read in part:
‘I am pleased to present for confirmation by the Senate the nomination of Professor Umar Danbatta as Executive Vice-chairman of the governing board of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) for the second term of five years. It is my hope that the Senate will consider and confirm the nominees in the usual expeditious manner.’
About a month ago, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami, recommended Dambatta to President Buhari, for a second term as the chief executive officer at NCC. This request was granted and the NCC openly expressed its gratitude to the Minister and to the President.
The EVC was born in Danbatta Local Government Council of Kano State, and he obtained his BEng and MSc degrees from the Technical University of Wroclaw in Poland while his PhD was obtained from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST).
Danbatta was the Vice President of the Digital Bridge Institute, International Centre for Advanced Communications Studies, which was established in the year 2004 by the Nigerian Communications Commission to build capacity for the Nigerian/African telecom industry in the diverse areas of Information and Communication Technology. He also served as the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the Kano University of Science & Technology, Wudil.