The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the
Nigerian Communications Commission
(NCC), Mr. Eugene Juwah, on Monday said
the commission banned the All Progressives
Congress (APC) from using
telecommunications service providers'
networks to raise monetary contributions to
the campaign of its presidential candidate,
Maj. Gen. Muhammed Buhari, because APC
flouted the commission’s laid down rules and
regulations.
Fielding questions from journalists at the
sideline at the African Telecommunications
Union (ATU) 3rd African Preparatory Meeting
in Abuja on why NCC shut down APC’s SMS
platform to raise money for its campaign, he
said: "You know we are NCC; we are a public
service agency; we do not, and NCC is not
political.
"You are allowed to raise money, but you
must conform to the rules of NCC. We didn’t
make these rules looking at elections. We
made these rules for the interest of
development of telecommunications in
Nigeria and we would keep those rules
whether there are elections or not." he said.
The National Publicity Secretary of the APC,
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had told journalists
last week in Lagos that NCC issued the
shutdown directive in order to give the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) an edge over
his party.
He explained that the meeting of the ATU in
Nigeria has become expedient so as to
protect the interest of the region and also to
speak with one voice on the global platform.
Juwah said: "This is a key meeting for the
whole world so Africa has to prepare to
protect its interest and the preparatory
meeting that we are having today is for
Africa region to decide on going to World
Radio Communications (WRC-15) 2015 with
a unique united voice towards the end of the
year.
“Avenues like this should be used to further
the interest and development of our region.
This we should do by thoroughly and
objectively looking at all the issues that
would be discussed at this meeting.”
He said the expectation is that all the
outstanding issues concerning the use of
spectrum would be discussed and that Africa
will try to put them on the agenda for the
global meeting that is coming at the end of
the year.
“There are many issues, there are issues of
harmonisation of spectrum, spectrum slot so
that cross border interference will be limited
and thing and other technical issues,” he
said.
Speaking earlier, the Minister of
Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola
Johnson, said the deployment of more
broadband spectrum across Africa would
enhance the clarity of voice, faster internet
and data sent through the mobile
telecommunications devices. She stressed
that African countries must come out with a
common position on the deployment of
spectrum for faster social economic growth
and development of the continent.
Nigerian Communications Commission
(NCC), Mr. Eugene Juwah, on Monday said
the commission banned the All Progressives
Congress (APC) from using
telecommunications service providers'
networks to raise monetary contributions to
the campaign of its presidential candidate,
Maj. Gen. Muhammed Buhari, because APC
flouted the commission’s laid down rules and
regulations.
Fielding questions from journalists at the
sideline at the African Telecommunications
Union (ATU) 3rd African Preparatory Meeting
in Abuja on why NCC shut down APC’s SMS
platform to raise money for its campaign, he
said: "You know we are NCC; we are a public
service agency; we do not, and NCC is not
political.
"You are allowed to raise money, but you
must conform to the rules of NCC. We didn’t
make these rules looking at elections. We
made these rules for the interest of
development of telecommunications in
Nigeria and we would keep those rules
whether there are elections or not." he said.
The National Publicity Secretary of the APC,
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had told journalists
last week in Lagos that NCC issued the
shutdown directive in order to give the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) an edge over
his party.
He explained that the meeting of the ATU in
Nigeria has become expedient so as to
protect the interest of the region and also to
speak with one voice on the global platform.
Juwah said: "This is a key meeting for the
whole world so Africa has to prepare to
protect its interest and the preparatory
meeting that we are having today is for
Africa region to decide on going to World
Radio Communications (WRC-15) 2015 with
a unique united voice towards the end of the
year.
“Avenues like this should be used to further
the interest and development of our region.
This we should do by thoroughly and
objectively looking at all the issues that
would be discussed at this meeting.”
He said the expectation is that all the
outstanding issues concerning the use of
spectrum would be discussed and that Africa
will try to put them on the agenda for the
global meeting that is coming at the end of
the year.
“There are many issues, there are issues of
harmonisation of spectrum, spectrum slot so
that cross border interference will be limited
and thing and other technical issues,” he
said.
Speaking earlier, the Minister of
Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola
Johnson, said the deployment of more
broadband spectrum across Africa would
enhance the clarity of voice, faster internet
and data sent through the mobile
telecommunications devices. She stressed
that African countries must come out with a
common position on the deployment of
spectrum for faster social economic growth
and development of the continent.
Your Comments Are What Shows Us How You Feel About The Topic. Join us on Facebook http://facebook.com/nigeriannewsreporters and Twitter @ngnewsreporters