Senate, representatives disagree on ICT bill
There was a power play in the National Assembly on Friday between members of the Joint Senate-House Committee on ICT and Cybersecurity over a bill to repeal and reactivate the National Information Technology Development Agency.
The bill seeks, among other things, to empower NITDA to set license and authorization fees, collect fees and penalties, and issue notices of contravention and non-compliance. compliance with the law.
The proposed legislation also aims to establish the National Information Technology Development Fund, which will be financed by a 1% levy on the pre-tax profit of corporations and businesses with a turnover of annual business of N100 million and above. .
Stakeholders raised concerns about certain provisions of the bill, which they said overlapped or usurped the statutory powers and authorities of other government agencies.
The joint committee held a public meeting on the bill on Friday to gather input from industry stakeholders, but Communications and Digital Economy Minister Isa Pantami and NITDA Director General Kashifu Abdullah were conspicuously absent from the hearing, a development that prompted some committee members to request an adjournment.
Some members of the House of Representatives, Isiaka Ibrahim (Ogun), Uzoma Nkem Abonta (Abia) and Unyime Idem (Akwa Ibom) raised objections to the continuation of the public hearing citing the absence of the minister and the DG of NITDA, the non-availability of documents on the bill and the fact that the event took place at a time when the members of the National Assembly were already in "holiday mood" .
They also expressed their disappointment that no apology was received from the Minister or the CEO of NITDA when none of their representatives were present at the public hearing.
"The engines in this bill seem to be running at low speeds. The necessary ingredients for us are not there. We don't have the documents in front of us. The members are not there, the minister is not there, what needs to be done needs to be done right,” Abonta said.
However, their observations were unacceptable to the panel's co-chair, Senator Yakubu Oseni (APC, Kogi), who insisted that the proceedings proceed as planned.
Oseni said copies of the bill had been distributed digitally to all committee members and that the NITDA boss was represented by the agency's legal counsel.
"I want it recorded here that if there is any discrepancy or missing document, it should be a fault on your part, members of the House of Representatives. For us in the Senate, everything is intact and the necessary documents regarding the bill have been distributed digitally, so I think if you know your system, you should have been able to see it.
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There was a power play in the National Assembly on Friday between members of the Joint Senate-House Committee on ICT and Cybersecurity over a bill to repeal and reactivate the National Information Technology Development Agency.
The bill seeks, among other things, to empower NITDA to set license and authorization fees, collect fees and penalties, and issue notices of contravention and non-compliance. compliance with the law.
The proposed legislation also aims to establish the National Information Technology Development Fund, which will be financed by a 1% levy on the pre-tax profit of corporations and businesses with a turnover of annual business of N100 million and above. .
Stakeholders raised concerns about certain provisions of the bill, which they said overlapped or usurped the statutory powers and authorities of other government agencies.
The joint committee held a public meeting on the bill on Friday to gather input from industry stakeholders, but Communications and Digital Economy Minister Isa Pantami and NITDA Director General Kashifu Abdullah were conspicuously absent from the hearing, a development that prompted some committee members to request an adjournment.
Some members of the House of Representatives, Isiaka Ibrahim (Ogun), Uzoma Nkem Abonta (Abia) and Unyime Idem (Akwa Ibom) raised objections to the continuation of the public hearing citing the absence of the minister and the DG of NITDA, the non-availability of documents on the bill and the fact that the event took place at a time when the members of the National Assembly were already in "holiday mood" .
They also expressed their disappointment that no apology was received from the Minister or the CEO of NITDA when none of their representatives were present at the public hearing.
"The engines in this bill seem to be running at low speeds. The necessary ingredients for us are not there. We don't have the documents in front of us. The members are not there, the minister is not there, what needs to be done needs to be done right,” Abonta said.
However, their observations were unacceptable to the panel's co-chair, Senator Yakubu Oseni (APC, Kogi), who insisted that the proceedings proceed as planned.
Oseni said copies of the bill had been distributed digitally to all committee members and that the NITDA boss was represented by the agency's legal counsel.
"I want it recorded here that if there is any discrepancy or missing document, it should be a fault on your part, members of the House of Representatives. For us in the Senate, everything is intact and the necessary documents regarding the bill have been distributed digitally, so I think if you know your system, you should have been able to see it.
Please share this story:
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