Gwandu may lead NCC, as Juwah bows out

 PUNCH.

Barring any last minute change in plan, Dr. Bashir Gwandu may be named the new Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission any moment from now.

Feelers that emerged from the NCC on Monday indicated that Gwandu was seen as the most competent from a list of other candidates being considered to take over from Dr. Eugene Juwah whose tenure ends today (Tuesday).

Gwandu was a former Executive Commissioner at the NCC. After his removal in 2010, he went to court, which ruled that the basis for his removal was ruled untenable and he was awarded N100m in damages.

Our correspondent gathered that Juwah would vacate the office after President Muhammadu Buhari allegedly declined to recognise a letter of his re-appointment for a second term by former President Goodluck Jonathan, which was backdated to March 2015.

It was gathered that Buhari’s decision not to reappoint Juwah might be as a result of the role played by the NCC in preventing the President’s party, the All Progressives Congress, from using a Short Message Service platform to raise funds in the run up to the last presidential election of March 28, 2015, which was won by the party.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, however, said he had no information on whether Juwah’s appointment would be renewed or not and the appointment of his likely successor.

The re-appointment by Jonathan, it was gathered, was carried out before the expiration of Juwah’s current tenure, contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian Communication Act, 2013.

The section in the Act concerning tenure renewal read, “Subject to Section 11(3) and 1 (4) of this Act, each commissioner shall serve for a term of five years from the date of his appointment; at the expiration of which the President may renew his term for a further period of five years and no more.”

Juwah’s five-year tenure as the NCC helmsman became effective on July 29, 2010 after the ratification of his appointment by the National Assembly.

The ratification was sequel to a letter of recommendation sent by Jonathan on July 23, 2010. As such, the five-year tenure of Juwah is due for either renewal or termination by July 28, 2015 (today), and not earlier than that.

However, sources privy to developments at the NCC said that Juwah had received a letter of re-appointment from the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Pius Anyim, after series of recommendations and “induced comments” from the immediate past Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson.

One of the sources said, “From all I know, there has been a lot of lobbying and recommendations from the board of the NCC, supported by Johnson, justifying the need for the renewal of Juwah’s tenure as the NCC boss.

“Approving the re-appointment of Juwah before the expiration of his current tenure would be illegal going by the Nigerian Communications Act, 2013. The Act states that the re-appointment of the NCC chief executive and executive commissioners shall be made by the President as at the time of the expiration of the current tenure.”

The NCC Board Chairman, Mr. Peter Igho, had on November 17, 2014, eight months before the expiration of Juwah’s first term in office, written to the former President seeking the renewal of the appointment of some key board members.

The NCC board members in question are Juwah and the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders’ Management, Dr. Okechukwu Itanyi.

The non-executive members, whose appointments were also recommended for renewal were Igho himself and Alhaji Mohammed Bintube.

Our correspondent stumbled on Igho’s letter to the former President, which read in part, “The above-listed board members are in the final phase of their first tenure of five years in office, having been appointed on July 29, 2010. Accordingly, their tenure will terminate on July 28, 2015.

“By the provision of the NCC Act, 2013, the members above are permitted to serve a maximum tenure of two terms and therefore eligible for reappointment.”

The letter, which listed a number of achievements so far recorded under the current NCC leadership to justify the re-appointment of the four principal officers of the commission, urged the ex-President to renew their re-appointment “for another five years in deference to the need for continuity and overall stability of the board.”

Following the receipt of the letter, the then minister, Johnson, was directed vide a State House letter Ref: PRES/68/CT/70, dated March 9, 2015, to comment on the prayers to the President.

Consequently, Johnson in a letter dated March 17, 2015, also justified the need for Jonathan to consider the re-appointment of the four NCC principal officers.

She had noted that in the first term, the Juwah-led leadership had “demonstrated an understanding of the increasing complexity of the telecoms sector and has provided the requisite regulator leadership to sustain the growth of investment in the sector.”

She, however, noted that Section 8(2) of the NCC Act, 2013 limits board recommendations to the President for the appointment of the chief executive and executive commissioners only.

“The appointment of the chairman and non-executive commissioners is, therefore, the prerogative of and at the instance of the President,” she noted.

When contacted, the Director, Corporate Affairs, NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, declined to comment on the matter, saying he did not have any official information on the development.

“I don’t have any official communication to that effect; whether renewal or whatever. I don’t have official information and the EVC (Juwah) is not around,” he said.