The Joint Senate and House Committee on Information Communications Technology is organising a public hearing on Friday on the controversial Nigerian Information Technology Development Agency Bill.
The hearing, coming a day after adjournment for the yuletide by the National Assembly, has been termed “secret and hasty”.
This was in the first instance because the notice for it was published a day, that is on Thursday, before the planned hearing.
The invitation for the public hearing, jointly signed by the Clerks of the Senate Committee on ICT and Cyber Security and House Committee on ICT, Ayo Ogon and Abosi Lolo respectively, was published in a newspaper on December 22, 2022.
Some industry watchers have thus termed the hearing as part of the desperation to pass the controversial NITDA Bill, which they alleged was meant to erode the powers of some other Agencies of the Federal Government.
While it was suspected that the Committee wanted to pass the bill without substantial public participation, it was also alleged that the submissions of the industry stakeholders made during its first public hearing, were jettisoned, and that the current invitation may be the ultimate smokescreen to pass the controversial bill.
There were also allegations that the Committee did not formally invite key stakeholders for fears that the process to force down the bill on the industry may be scuttled, hence the Joint Committee capitalised on a hasty public notice, issued within hours to the public hearing.
According to a source from the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Companies, the attempt to push this bill will amount to creating a behemoth that will erode the gains made by the industry for many years.
There was another allegation that the joint committee in the undue haste to pass the flawed bill had thrown away all the submissions made by the members of the public and stakeholders during the first hearing, where the bill was vehemently opposed.
Among the stance of the stakeholders was that rather than preserve and promote the mandate of NITDA as a statutory ICT development agency, they have made up their mind to create an agency with similar responsibilities like those of some of existing regulatory agencies in Nigeria.
One of the stakeholders said: “All well-meaning Nigerians and all stakeholders in the ICT industry should know that if the enemies of Nigeria, who are determined to force the new bill down our throat succeed, the gains recorded in the ICT and telecommunications sector in the last 22 years will be reversed.
“Just in the second quarter of 2022, the ICT sector, besides digital services, contributed 18.44 per cent to GDP.
“This is unprecedented but painfully it is one of the gains the passage of the infamous bill will reverse.
“The attempt to railroad the Draft NITDA Bill hiding under the solemn inactivity of the festivities by holding a secretive Public Hearing on December 23, 2022 should be put in proper perspective.
“First, there are elements in the government that are desperate to usurp the powers of other agencies by creating a super regulator that will monitor and regulate the internet.
“These elements have hijacked the identities of Nigerians by taking control of NIMC (National Identification Management Agency), the agency that has the records of more than 80 million Nigerians.
“Secondly, they have control of the SIM registration database through the SIM-NIN integration process.
“Now, the last piece of the puzzle is to convert NITDA to an outfit that regulates, licenses, and controls all activities on the internet.
“This desperation has ignored all existing laws and policies to push through a Bill that is cross-cutting everything on the internet and all providers of internet services.
“It is clear that the plan has been years in planning, and due to the approaching end of this government, the planners are in a haste to finalise the process.
“The recent presidential approval to create a Data Bureau without a statute is to manage the data processing part of this scheme and also ensure no oversight by any sectoral regulator.
“The new draft Bill has provisions for licensing all service providers in the digital economy as well as all digital services being offered in Nigeria.
“It also gave the super regulator the power to approve all devices and equipment being used to provide digital and internet services.
“Clearly, the Draft Bill is a copious replica of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 and also took provisions from other legislations such as the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission Act and the Cyber Crimes Act 2015.
“Therefore, it will make NITDA a one-stop agency that regulates and manages the amorphous digital economy that has different aspects that include financial services, internet governance, e-commerce, cyber security, etc.
“This is a last-ditch attempt after the Social Media Bill failed and the recent Code of Conduct for Digital Services issued by NITDA outside the scope of its current powers.
“Therefore, this is the final game to take control of the social media and digital services by an arm of the Buhari government that are desperate to remain relevant far beyond the end of the administration in May 2023.”
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