Nigeria: Allegations Against NCC Baseless, Says Ndukwe

The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Ernest Ndukwe at the weekend refuted allegations leveled against him and the Commission by a member of the House of Representatives, Dino Melaye, describing them as baseless.

Ndukwe who spoke to journalists on the three point allegations by the law maker said it was disturbing to note that while the international community was recognizing and applauding his work and that of the NCC, his compatriots are busy labouring to bring him to disrepute.

On Monday last week Melaye accused NCC of causing Nigeria to loose $1.7 billion due to tax waiver it granted telecom operators.

He also accused the NCC of bribing law makers and that Ndukwe was over aged to occupy the position of the EVC of the NCC having attained the age of 60 years.

Ndukwe said Melaye’s accusations came at the time he was invited to Washington by the World Bank Global Information and Communication Technologies (GICT) group, as the only telecommunication industry regulator from Africa to participate in reviewing the activities of the ICT sector around the world and proffer ideas on what the future emphasis should be for World Bank in their engagements with countries around the world.

Ndukwe said while he and the Chairman of the Commission, Ahmed Joda and the President of the Digital Brigde Institute were at the World Bank in Washington receiving recognition as a nation for what NCC has been able to achieve for this industry, there was something else going on in Nigeria.

Debunking claims made by Melaye on the competence of the Commission and its achievements Ndukwe said he was proud of what God has used him and other members of the NCC Board and members of staff to achieve for Nigeria in the past eight years.

He said has served Nigeria with the highest level of integrity since he assumed office at the NCC in 2000.

“I don’t think I will be blowing our trumpet too much to say that NCC remains one of the most professionally run government agencies in Nigeria.

“NCC is today recognized internationally as a high performing regulatory agency in the world, not just in Africa because at the World Bank, I was actually treated like a celebrity because people talk about what is happing in the Nigerian telecom industry,” he said.

Ndukwe noted that NCC was not afraid of any probe by the National Assembly and that it had subjected itself to the last public hearing that was done by the Ad-hoc Committee set up by the House of Representatives.

Ndukwe said further that it was false and malicious to allege that the NCC was trying to stop the motion in the House.

“In fact, I also find it insulting to suggest that Honourable Members received bribes. The whole allegation is laughable because even NCC is known not to be generous with things of that nature. I feel extremely sorry for the embarrassment that this allegation may have caused the innocent Honourable Members of the House to whom these allegations of collecting bribe was leveled for daring to say the truth as they know them.

He said it was ridiculous for people to think someone will go looking for 300 members of the House to start offering pecuniary incentives and to tell all of them of what to do.

“There are many very reasonable and responsible people in that hallowed chambers. Many of them are very professional people from different works of life and they know what is true and what is wrong and what is right. Some of them who have talked in favour of the Commission have done so out of their experience. They are not kids. Some of them are older than me and can take patriotic decisions as it concerns this country”, he said.

On the issue of being over 60 years of age, Ndukwe said he was extremely embarrassed by the attack on his person, because he was not a civil servant but a political appointee.

He said his appointment is based on tenure, and it was renewed for tenure of five years in 2005.

Daily Independent