Danbatta named most outstanding regulator of the year, dedicates Award to NCC’s Board, Mgt, Staff

Chairman of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohammed Buba Marwa presenting the Regulator of the Year Award to Prof Danbatta.

In one of the biggest wins, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Comminications Commission, NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta has clinched Champion Newspaper Annual Award as most outstanding regulator of the year, 2022.

The event which took place in Lagos on Friday, 12th May, 2023 in full glare of personalities drawn from all the geopolitical zones of the country, Danbatta was recognised for his giant strides in his regulatory genius of the nation’s telecommunication industry.

The Champion Newspaper described him as a man that spearheaded the attainment and surpassing of the Nigerian broadband target of 2023, a feat that his predecessors in office could not attain.

According to his recitation, Danbatta got award as the one currently leading the charge for the realisation of the new broadband target of 70 percent by 2025.

He got the award for championing broadband penetration to reach 48.49 percent, strengthening the role telecommunication sector as a major contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product, boosting telecoms investment from $36 billion to over $70 billion as at 2015 and more importantly supervising successfully, the auctioning of three frequency lots in the 3.5ghz spectrum band for the deployment the 5G network across Nigeria.

Speaking with journalists after collecting the award, Danbatta said, the achievement was as a result of teamwork at the NCC, hence, he dedicated the award to the Board of the NCC as well as the management and staff of the Commission for their commitment towards the mandate of the NCC.

He commended all the staff of NCC for their support for him over the years, noting that he cherished the award as he look forward to working more with the Board.

Danbatta stated: “We couldn’t have achieved all this without this level corporation that we have received, and I will like to acknowledged once more and past on the message once to the public the EVC couldn’t have done it by himself alone.”

He assured that the NCC will continue to work together with other stakeholders in the country so that the citizens can enjoy good and quality telecommunications services promising that no part of the country will be left behind in the access to telecommunication services.

The NCC boss gave assurance that the Commission will work to ensure that the digital gab is bridged and everyone enjoys digital services in Nigeria and that no part of the country is left without telecommunications services.