Telecom
How we Generated over N1Trillion in 2Years – Pantami
In its bid to deliver the promises made by President Muhammadu Buhari, to all Nigerians in terms of economic diversification, enhanced security and anti-corruption, the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and its parastatals under the leadership of Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, have generated a total of One trillion, 54 billion naira as revenue for the Federal Government through the implementation of various policies, initiatives and interventions.
The Minister made this disclosure on Thursday during the virtual commissioning of the 12th batch of the Digital Economy Projects for a Digital Nigeria at the Digital Economy Complex, Mbora, Abuja.
The 12th batch of the digital economy projects which were virtually commissioned by Dr Pantami includes; the e-Accessibility Centre in Bauchi State Orphans and Vulnerable School, Bauchi; the Digital Economy Centre and e-Learning Facility at Ogba Grammar School, Lagos; the Digital Economy Centre and e-Learning Facility at St Paul Secondary School, Eke, Enugu; the Digital Economy Centre and e-Learning Facility at the Federal Character Commission, Abuja; the Emergency Communications Centre at Leko Abdulrahman Hospital, Daura; the e-Accessibility Centre at the Alderstown Schools for the Deaf, Warri; and the Virtual Examination Centre, at the College of Education, Argungu, Kebbi State.
The Honorable Minister stated that the Communications and Digital Economy sector singlehandedly lifted the country out of recession, with ICT recording the highest growth rate according to reports given by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, NBS, in the fourth quarter of 2020.
“The Ministry and its parastatals have generated over N1 Trillion for the Federal Government in less than 2 years, this translates to an average of about N44 Billion every month or over N1.4 Billion every day”, he added.
He mentioned that within this period, the Ministry has been able to record some major achievements in the area of national policy formulation, infrastructure, national identification number enrollment, revenue generation and many more.
Dr Pantami further disclosed that about N360 Billion of this revenue was largely from Spectrum allocated by the National Frequency Management Council (NFMC), under the Chairmanship of the Minister, to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) for commercial purposes.
He also added that over N600 Billion was paid by ICT Companies to the account of the Federal Government through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
“Furthermore, over Ninety Four Billion Naira (N94,000,000,000) was generated for the Federal Government and approved by the National Assembly in line with relevant laws, as part of the 2020 appropriation for personnel, capital projects, capacity building, interventions, etc. The IT Projects Clearance Programme also saved over Five Billion Naira (N5,478,007,325.23) for the Federal Government”, the Minister recalled .
Dr Pantami, while applauding the chief executive officers of the various parastatals under the ministry at the virtual commissioning event for their support and commitment, modestly disclosed that 1,667 ICT projects and Centres have been established across the country in 2years since he assumed duty as the Honorable Minister of the Ministry.
“In addition to those already established, we have over 455 other projects and programmes that are ongoing. All these are in full alignment with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria”, he noted.
Accordingly, the Honorable Minister strongly believed that in creating and developing a sustainable digital economy, it was imperative to create a critical mass of highly skilled citizens by engaging in constant capacity programmes.
“In the last 2 years, we have offered direct world class training to well over 219,198 citizens in digital skills and emerging technologies. This number does not include the many citizens that have benefited from trainings through our Centres”, he stated.
Furthermore, he said that the mass trainings were efforts geared at promoting a paradigm shift from the general societal focus on degrees to a strong focus on skills acquisition.
While speaking on policy formulations, Dr Pantami said that within his 2 years tenure as Minister, 16 National policies have emerged, which includes; the National Digital Economy Policy & Strategy (NDEPS); Roadmap for the Implementation of the NDEPS; the Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2020-2025; Sim Card Registration Policy; National Policy on Digital Identity for Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria; National Policy on VSAT Installation Core Skills for Nigerians, amongst many others that have been developed and implemented as against just one policy he inherited on assumption into the office.
The Honorable Minister agreed that a highly robust identity programme is critical to create a secure and sustainable digital economy.
He further disclosed that the Ministry has significantly increased the number of National Identification Number (NIN) enrolments since the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) joined the Communications and Digital Economy family in September 2020.
“The increase of about 20 million enrolments in less than a year is unprecedented. We have also launched the Android enrolment software and have received Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval for the upgrade of critical ICT infrastructure of the National Identity Management System,” Dr Pantami announced.
Earlier, the Minister thanked the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, for giving him the opportunity to serve the nation and citizens. He also expressed his profound gratitude to the CEO’s of all the parastatals under the Ministry for their commitment and unflinching support towards him in the last two years in office.
“I want to use this opportunity to encourage all the host communities and beneficiaries of all our projects and programmes to ensure that they take full advantage of the facilities and skills for the benefit of their communities and the Nation”, the Minister concluded.
The Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, while giving his goodwill message, congratulated the Honorable Minister on his second year anniversary in office.
He noted that the Minister’s achievements were unprecedented and therefore gave assurances of his agency’s support and commitment into the full implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) in creating a sustainable Digital Nigeria.
“At NITDA, based on our Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan,(SRAP) we will key in 100% into the implementation of the NDEPS and cascade our activities in line with the policy”, Abdullahi stated.
Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) has named the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) among the top three Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government with the Best Ranking in Website Performance for 2025.
L-R: Head Special Projects, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Salamatu Andu; Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Engr. Abaraham Oshadame; Director General Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Head Customer Support Service, Galaxy Backbone, Rosemary Ehize; Secretary to the ES. Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Tahir Aminu at the BPSR award ceremony for top four MDAs in BPSR Website Performance and Ranking 2025 at the BPSR office on Tuesday, 23rd December, 2025.
This is coming barely three weeks after the telecom regulator was recognized as one of the top five best-performing Federal Government agencies for 2025 by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) – a testament to the Commission’s consistency in investment in technology for ensuring efficient service delivery.
In the BPSR 2024/2025 scorecard ranking of agencies’ websites, the NCC came second in the ranking, trailing behind Galaxy Backbone Limited, which came first while the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) clinched the third position, from a pool of 235 MDAs, whose website were evaluated.
BPSR deployed 14 evaluation criteria in include MDA’s website compliance with .gov.ng domain name, appearance and aesthetics (look and feel) of the website, content, relevance to MDAs mandate/government policy and the website’ structure.
Others include website’s responsiveness (device compatibility), security, load time, usability/ease of navigation, availability/uptime, functionality, interactivity, accessibility and capacity building.
The recognition was announced at the official release of Federal Government 2024/2025 Scorecard Ranking for MDAs’ Website held at the Federal Ministry of Finance Auditorium in Abuja on Monday (December 22, 2025) while the award presentation took place at BPSR’s Office on Tuesday (December 23, 2025).
The award, which is an important index metric of the National e-Government Masterplan for determining the Nigeria e-Government Status, was received by the Commission in recognition of its commitment to maintaining a world-class website that enhances service delivery to the citizens.
Receiving the award on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, the NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Abraham Oshadami, appreciated the BPSR for the recognition, describing the award as “another encouragement for the Commission to be a better public service institution leveraging digital platforms such as our web presence to enhance public service delivery to our various stakeholders, thereby implementing the Federal Government’s Ease of Doing Business policy direction.”
While presenting the award to the NCC, alongside other two agencies, BPSR’s Director-General, Mr. Dasuki Arabi, commended the top three for their proactive decisions in maintaining world-class websites, which are compliant with the Federal Government’s policy direction in effective and efficient service delivery to the citizens.
According to the DG, the 2024/2025 MDA’s websites’ ranking represents a collective effort of federal public institutions in Nigeria to be transparent, accountable and open in governance, as well as a confirmation to align with global best practices in service delivery to the citizens.
Developed about six years ago, Arabi said as a result of the annual ranking, more public institutions have indicated readiness to embrace reforms, and align with the policy direction of the current administration’s Renewed Hope agenda on improve governance for effective service delivery, as introduced by His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“The ideals of harnessing and deploying technological tools for service delivery has become imperative following the COVID pandemic, and distortions of socio-economic system of nations, culminating in the evolution of competitiveness, cost effectiveness, and agile governance.
“As engine room of governance, it behoves on us in the public service to perform our statutory duties and we must put in place technological innovations and standardized websites to operate services as well as deliver service needs to citizens,” he said.
The Scorecard exercise, he said, is part of the BPSR reform broader function of conducting research on reform implementation efforts and presenting ‘best practice’ models to the entire Public Service, and to among others, improve access to government information, facilitate seamless financial transaction, eliminate corruption and cyber theft, as well as facilitate access to government services.
Speaking on the rigorous nature of the exercise that produced the top three winners, the DG said “in the past few weeks members of the Scorecard Jury drawn from inter-Ministerial Agencies, had worked tirelessly to mill websites of selected MDAs through a rigorous process of enduring criteria for the ranking and the outcome had also passed through a quality assurance mechanism to validate the outcome.”
Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, has dismissed reports that bank accounts not linked to a Tax Identification Number (TIN) will be frozen or automatically debited from January 1, 2026.
Taiwo Oyedele
Oyedele described the claims as false and misleading, warning Nigerians against panic over misinformation surrounding recent tax and financial reforms.
In a post on his X handle Tuesday morning, he wrote: “Don’t let anyone manipulate you. Your bank account is safe. Misinformation makes you panic and fear a reform that is designed to help you.
“When they tell you that your account will be frozen or automatically debited from January 2026, ask them for the evidence in the new law. Be wise.”
He stressed that no provision in the new tax laws authorises the freezing of bank accounts, adding that the rumours are part of widespread misrepresentation of the reforms.
The committee chairman reiterated that the reforms are intended to simplify Nigeria’s tax system and ease the burden on ordinary citizens, not to impose punitive measures on bank customers.
US tech giant, Amazon has disclosed that it blocked more than 1,800 North Koreans from applying for jobs, amid growing concerns that Pyongyang is deploying large numbers of IT workers overseas to earn and launder funds.
Amazon
In a LinkedIn post, Amazon’s Chief Security Officer, Stephen Schmidt, said North Korean nationals have been attempting to secure remote IT roles with companies around the world, particularly in the United States.
He noted that the company recorded nearly a one-third increase in such applications over the past year.
According to Schmidt, many of the applicants operate through so-called “laptop farms” — computers physically located in the US but remotely controlled from abroad.
He warned that the issue is not unique to Amazon and is likely occurring at scale across the tech industry.
He added that common red flags include incorrectly formatted phone numbers and questionable academic credentials.
The issue has previously drawn the attention of US authorities. In July, a woman in Arizona was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for running a laptop farm that helped North Korean IT workers obtain remote jobs at more than 300 US companies.
Officials said the scheme generated over $17 million in revenue for both the woman and North Korea.
Last year, South Korea’s intelligence agency also warned that North Korean operatives were using LinkedIn to pose as recruiters, approaching South Koreans working at defence companies in an attempt to steal sensitive technological information.
“North Korea is actively training cyber personnel and infiltrating key locations worldwide,” Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP.
He added that, given Amazon’s business model, the motivation behind such operations is largely economic, with a high likelihood of attempts to steal financial assets.
North Korea’s cyber warfare programme dates back to at least the mid-1990s and has since expanded into a cyber unit of about 6,000 personnel known as Bureau 121, according to a 2020 US military report.
In November, Washington announced sanctions against eight individuals accused of being state-sponsored hackers, alleging their illicit activities were carried out to fund North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.
The US Treasury has also accused North Korea-linked cybercriminals of stealing more than $3 billion over the past three years, primarily through cryptocurrency-related crimes.
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