Comply with industry’s Code of Corporate Governance, NCC urges operators

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed all operators to comply with the industry’s Code of Corporate Governance.

The Executive Vice-Chairman, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, disclosed this at a sensitization workshop for operators on Code of Corporate Governance in Lagos on Tuesday.

Danbatta, who spoke on: “Sustaining the telecommunications industry as leverage for the next generation economy”, said that all operators ought to have complied since 2016.

“We (NCC) have had a passive period of mandatory compliance and we have tried to bring it to the industry’s notice. This sensitisation workshop is to let the operators understand that ignorance is no longer an excuse.

“The entrenchment of good corporate governance standards and practices has continued to gain global recognition and its acceptance is the bedrock for corporate success and business sustainability.

“The adoption of the concept and principles are intended to present a win-win model of inter-relations predicted on openness, accountability, transparency and integrity,” he said.

He said that the industry’s Code of Corporate Governance was developed to raise the standard of leadership and management in the sector.

Danbatta said that when all operators comply, it would aid the growth of the nation’s economy beyond the current contribution of 9.8 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Danbatta urged the operators to ensure international best practices so as to remain relevant in the contemporary world economy.

He said that since technological trends had disrupted traditional economic order, the sector must leverage on its strength to provide the backbone needed to ride storm.

“In the last 16 years of the telecommunications revolution, many operators have fallen by the way side, largely owing to internal management issues rather than from technical challenges.

“As we migrate more toward knowledge and higher level economy, infrastructure dependency on internet and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) support services, it will no longer be desirable for such collapse to occur.

“This calls for the need to sensitise operators on those observed poor corporate governance practices which had contributed to failures in the past.

“We, as an industry, have developed this code of corporate governance which has since 2016 become mandatory for all operators to comply,” he said.