NCS Calls for NITDA Bill to be Withdrawn from National Assembly

The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) has called on Members of the National Assembly to drop the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Bill which passed the first reading by the Joint Senate-House of Representatives Committee on ICT and Cybersecurity.

The bill seeks to enact legislation that will empower NITDA to administer, implement and regulate information technology systems and practices in Nigeria, which will automatically transform NITDA from a development agency into a regulatory agency in a sector where there is an existing regulator.

The NCS call complements other calls from industry players such as Computer Professionals (Registration Council) of Nigeria (CPN), Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) and Paradigm Initiative, who are concerned about the current NITDA Repeal and Reinstatement Bill 2021, which seeks to transform NITDA from a development agency into a regulatory agency .

NCS Chairperson Prof. Adesina Sodiya, who made the call at a press conference in Lagos, said members of the National Assembly should not hesitate to drop the bill because it is an affront to industry stakeholders.

According to him, he did not consider input from industry stakeholders who contributed to the bill at a stakeholder meeting hosted by NITDA.

"Industry stakeholders were invited to a meeting and we attended and made valuable contributions, but none of the contributions were captured in the document sent to the National Assembly. Again , we were giving very short notice to attend a public hearing on the NITDA Bill and the public hearing was set at a time when Nigerians including members of the National Assembly were preparing to leave for Christmas holidays. There are indications that NITDA must try to cover up some things that we don't know, that's why they are in a hurry to submit the bill for speedy approval. Members of the National Assembly should ask input from stakeholders before discussing the bill further and if there is no input from stakeholders, the National Assembly should not waste any more time abandoning the bill,” said So diya.

"In addition to neglecting input from stakeholders, the bill will violate the ACT which establishes the FIC and will also violate the activities and programs of most government agencies, Sodiya added.

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In the NITDA Bill, seen by our correspondent, Section 1 sets out the objectives of the Bill and explains that the aim is to create an effective, impartial and independent regulatory framework for the development of the Nigerian technology sector of information and the digital economy, but the review of industry players explains that the section lays the foundation for NITDA's conversion from an IT development agency to a regulatory agency. The review further indicated that the inclusion of the concept of “digital economy” as part of its regulatory jurisdiction expands the boundaries of NITDA to matters within the exclusive regulatory mandate of the NCC and will impact the functions of the Nigerian Communications Commission in Section 4 of the Nigerian Law. Communications Act 2003, which empowers the NCC to regulate communications services that drive the digital economy.

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