In a major shake-up of the agencies under the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, President Bola Tinubu has sacked the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta and replaced him with Aminu Maida.
Maida, who holds a PhD in Signal Processing from the University of Bath, has a wealth of experience in the technology and payments sector. He was previously the Executive Director, Technology and Operations at Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems PLC, as well as Solutions Architect/Senior Manager at Cisco and CTO/Co-Founder at ARCA Payments Company Ltd.
The presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, who announced the changes in a statement yesterday, said they were “in line with President Bola Tinubu’s determination to maximally leverage on Nigeria’s proven technological and digital economic prowess to reposition the nation’s economy toward greater financial inclusion”. He also revealed that the President has appointed Idris Alubankudi as his new Special Adviser on Technology and Digital Economy.
The statement also confirmed the termination of the appointment of the Managing Director/CEO of Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), Tukur Mohammed Lawal, who was only appointed in December 2022 following the retirement of his predecessor, Dr Abimbola Alale. He has been replaced by Nkechi Egerton-Idehen.
The Digital Economy ministry has undergone some changes in the leadership of its agencies. The Postmaster General /CEO of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), Hon. Adepoju Adeyemi Sunday, was replaced by Tola Odeyemi, who will now head the agency.
However, some Heads of agencies retained their positions, such as Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, the DG /CEO of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). The President also extended the appointment of Dr. Vincent Olatunji as National Commissioner /CEO of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC).
