Telecom
Nigeria to Seek Re-election into ITU Elective Positions
Federal government says Nigeria will be presenting itself for re-election into the Administrative Council seat of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) at the upcoming election of the union to be held at its 2018 Plenipotentiary Conference to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirate in October/November this year.
Barr. Adebayo Shittu, minister of Communications, disclosed this while declaring open the second African Preparatory Meeting (APM) for ITU 2018 Plenipoterntiary Conference (PP-18) which is going on in Abuja.
The minister also disclosed that Nigeria will be presenting Mr. Williams Ijeh for election as Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau of the ITU during the conference in the UAE and solicited for the support of the ITU member states for Nigeria.
Shittu therefore, charged the participants at the meeting to come up with quality decisions that will immensely benefit the African region and the world at large.
‘‘It is my believe that this meeting will enable member states come up with preliminary positions on agendas for the PP-18.
I am happy that the African Region has deemed it fit to prepare for this important conference, which will make member states put their heads together to fight a common cause. I will us all not to under estimate the importance of these preparations.
‘‘I am pleased to inform you that Nigeria will be presenting itself for re-election into the Administrative Council seat as well as presenting Mr. Williams for election during the ITU conference in Dubai. I wish to seek your unflinching support for Nigeria twin candidates,’’ he added.
The ITU Plepotentiary conference is the key event at which ITU member states decide on the future role of the organization thereby determining the organization’s ability to influence and effect the development of telecommunications/ICT worldwide.
The Plenipotentiary conference is also the top policy-making body of the ITU held every four years, setting the union’s general policies; adopts four-year strategic and financial plans and elect the senior management team of the organizations, the member s of Council and the members of the Radio Regulation Board (RRB).
In his remarks, the Secretary General of ITU, Houlin Zhao, urged African nations to work together in leveraging ICT to develop the continent. He expressed hope that Africa will soon emerge a global champion in the innovation and use of emerging technologies.
‘‘We must work to use ICT to transform Africa by making ICT a useful tool, to help us achieve each and every UN SDGs. The future of our lives is strongly affected by emerging technologies. I am pleased to note that ICT, innovations will be launched by African engineers and innovators.
‘‘We will in this meeting see how we will use ICT work out the future of African continent. I am much confident that in the nearest future, Africa will begin to enjoy the same socio-economic life like any other continent enjoys.
‘‘We want to see ICT made in Africa and use in Africa. Africa has contributed to global ICT global technological services and development.’’
Earlier in his address, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, said the importance of the gathering cannot be understated when considering the ITU Framework and Plenipotentiary process.
The EVC stated that Nigeria sees the work of ITU as integral to the development of ICT in Africa and in tune with its focus of achieving ubiquitous Broadband deployment that will in turn lead to sustainable socio-economic development of its citizenry, stressing that the challenges posed by the development of new technologies cannot be over emphasized as the benefits far outstrip whatever risks we may face.
‘‘This meeting sets the tone for our gathering here and I am confident that the deliberations that will take place in the next 3 days will further enhance Africa’s common position at PP-18.
It pleases me to note that Nigeria, beyond being your host, will be a very active participant at this meeting as we have submitted a number of proposals for your consideration.
‘‘Nigeria sees the work of ITU as integral to the development of ICT in Africa and in tune with its focus of achieving ubiquitous Broadband deployment that will in turn lead to sustainable socio-economic development of its citizenry.
This we believe can only be achieved through continued and deepened partnerships of which the ITU provides the most ideal platform.
‘‘Nigeria has witnessed phenomenal growth in its ICT sector and acknowledges the support of the ITU in the country’s ICT evolution. Nigeria has been a long standing member of the ITU council and has always seen itself as a flag bearer for the interest of Africa and other developing Nations as a whole.
‘‘To this end, and with your support we wish to continue the good work we have been doing over the past decades.
The presence of the ITU Secretary General signifies the importance accorded to Africa within the ITU.’’ Prof. Danbatta urged participants to harness their expertise and experiences from previous meetings to overcome their differences.
He also urged them to put together and synthesize well-articulated and impactful common proposals that will ensure Africa’s participation at PP-18 produces the necessary strategies to ensure the digital divide in the continent is significantly reduced with Africa not just being a major consumer of technology but a producer as well.
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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