Tinubu Sack Danbatta, Appoints Maida As NCC Boss
President Bola Tinubu has sacked the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC and named Aminu Maida As replacement.
Maida before this appointment was Executive Director, Technology and Operations at Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems PLC. He also worked in Cisco as Solutions Architect/Senior Manager, and in ARCA Payments Company Ltd, as CTO/Co-Founder. He has a doctorate degree in Signal Processing from the University of Bath.
The sack of Danbatta was contained in statement by the Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale which saw to a shake-up in the agencies under the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy.
The statement which Ngelale said was “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, also announced the appointment of a new Special Adviser to the President on Technology and Digital Economy, Idris Alubankudi
The removal of Danbatta came as a surprise to the ICT sector professionals because he was only reappointed for a five-year second term in office, July 2020, meaning he had roughly two years away to complete his tenure.
Aminu Maida, the new tech whiz at the helm of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has over 15 years of experience in FinTech, Telecoms, and Enterprise Technology,. Before NCC, he was the tech guru at Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc and Arca Payments Network. He also worked with Cisco Systems UK. Plus, he’s got an MEng from Imperial College London and a PhD from the University of Bath.
However, Danbatta was not alone as the President also terminated the appointment of the recently appointed MD/CEO of Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), Tukur Mohammed Lawal.
Lawal was appointed in December 2022 following the retirement of the erstwhile Managing Director, Dr Abimbola Alale. In the stead of Lawal, President Tinubu announced Nkechi Egerton-Idehen.
Another agency of the Digital Economy ministry that was affected by the shake-up is the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), as its Postmaster General /CEO, Hon. Adepoju Adeyemi Sunday, was relieved of his appointment and a new person, Tola Odeyemi was named the new Postmaster General /CEO.
But, it was not just all removals, the President also renewed the appointments of the Heads of some of the agencies, including that of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), whose DG /CEO, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi was asked to continue in his job.
Also, the appointment of Dr. Vincent Olatunji as National Commissioner /CEO of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) was renewed by the President.