Tinubu sacks heads of NCC, NIGCOMSAT, NIPOST, appoints replacements

By Hannah Nathan, Warri.

The expulsion of the CEOs of three organizations within the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy was announced by President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday.

The president retained the roles of the heads of two different agencies while appointing new leaders to the organizations.

The president’s Special Adviser on Media & Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, announced the appointments in a statement that was released in Abuja.

According to the statement, the appointed chief executives (new and returning), are heads of agencies such as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) and Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST).

A review of the appointments indicated that the president has replaced three top executives with new individuals, while two of the executives retained their seats for another tenure of five years.

According to the statement, Mr Tinubu approved Aminu Maida as the new Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NCC, following the removal of Umar Danbatta, while Nkechi Egerton-Idehen was announced as the new Managing Director/CEO of NIGCOMSAT to replace Tukur Funtua.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), and Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) are among the organizations whose chief executives have been appointed (new and returning).

Reviewing the appointments revealed that the president had appointed new people to replace three top executives, while two of the executives were given seats for another five-year term.

Aminu Maida was approved by Mr Tinubu to replace Umar Danbatta as the new Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NCC, while Nkechi Egerton-Idehen was named the new Managing Director and CEO of NIGCOMSAT to succeed Tukur Funtua, according to the announcement.

The president replaced Sunday Adepoju as NIPOST’s new postmaster general and CEO by appointing Tola Odeyemi.

However, Vincent Olatunji, National Commissioner of NDPC, and Kashifu Abdullahi, Director General of NITDA, kept their positions.

Some of the chief executives’ departure may come as a surprise to them because they still had some time left in their terms of office.

For instance, the former EVC of the NCC, Mr. Danbatta, was fired three years after being reappointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari and ratified by the Senate in July 2020 for a second term of five years.

For his part, Mr Adepoju, the former NIPOST boss, was fired just a year after taking the position. Similarly to this, Mr Funtua, the head of NIGCOMSAT, was replaced less than a year after Mr Buhari had appointed him in December of last year.

No official explanations for the dismissals had been provided as of Thursday Idris Alubankudi has been appointed as the president’s new Special Adviser on Technology and Digital Economy, according to Mr. Ngelale. This appointment comes as efforts are being made to take advantage of Nigeria’s technological and digital economic prowess to reposition the country’s economy toward greater financial inclusion.

The statement states that all appointments will become effective right away.