NCC boss, Danbatta reacts as Nigeria gets re-elected as ITU Council member. Nigeria was previously re-elected as a Council member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized body that regulates international telecommunication operations, in unambiguous acknowledgement of the crucial role Nigeria is playing on the global telecom arena. Nigeria will take another seat on the Council from 2023 to 2026.
The highlight of the Plenipotentiary Conference 2022 (PP-22), which is taking place in Bucharest, the capital of the Republic of Romania, was the election of Nigeria and other nations on Monday, October 3, 2022, into the several regional groupings that make up the ITU Council.
Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, the honorable minister of communications and digital economy, successfully led the Nigerian delegation to the international event.
Prof. Adeolu Akande, Chairman, Board of Commissioners, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, are other members of the delegation.
The 12 delegates who would sit on the Radio Regulations Board (RRB) for the upcoming four years were chosen by the member States present at the conference, which began on September 26, 2022, and was expected to finish on October 14, 2022.
Doreen Bogdan-Martin of the United States of America was chosen by member states to serve as the organization’s next Secretary-General at the 21st Plenipotentiary Conference of the Council.
As the first woman to lead ITU in its 157-year history, Bogdan-Martin would begin her four-year tenure in January 2023, when Houlin Zhao would have finished his second and last term of four years as ITU Secretary General. She will serve with Nigeria and the other nations voted to the Council.
Five areas (A through E) make up the ITU Council seats. Nigeria was voted to the 13-seat Region D for Africa of the ITU Council. Along with Nigeria, the following 12 nations were chosen: Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Uganda.
Elections for member states also took place in the following regions: Region E, for Asia and Australasia, with 13 seats as Africa; Region B, for Western Europe, with eight seats; Region C, for Eastern Europe & Northern Asia, with five seats; and Region A, for The Americas, with nine seats.
Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the ITU, commented on Nigeria’s re-election as a member of the ITU Council and thanked the ITU member States for their continued support of Nigeria by electing it to the ITU Council, where it has played a significant role over the years.
The EVC noted that Nigeria’s reappointment as a member of the ITU Council for the ensuing four years “points to the globally acknowledged leadership role Nigeria is playing in Africa and at the level of the ITU Council in the area of telecommunications policy formulation and technical regulations development to drive ITU’s mission and vision.”
To coordinate global telecommunications operations and services, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which was first founded in 1865 as the International Telegraph Union and later became a specialized agency of the United Nations, was created. The company’s main office is in Geneva, Switzerland.
The ITU admitted Nigeria on November 4, 1961. On July 1, 1908, the USA joined; on February 24, 1871, the UK; and on June 27, 1972, the UAE.
The Administrative Council and the Plenipotentiary Conference are in charge of running the ITU. The Union’s highest body is the Plenipotentiary Conference. The Union’s operations and direction are decided by the decision-making body.
In contrast, the Council serves as the Union’s governing body between Plenipotentiary Conferences. To make sure that the Union’s initiatives, programs, and policies adequately address the dynamic, quickly evolving telecoms environment of today, it has the duty to take into account broad telecommunication policy problems.
The ITU Council is in charge of overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Union, coordinating work programs, approving budgets, and managing money and spending. It also provides a report on the policy and strategic planning of the ITU.
Additionally, the Council makes every effort to make sure that the provisions of the ITU Constitution, ITU Convention, Administrative Regulations (International Telecommunications Regulations and Radio Regulations), decisions of Plenipotentiary Conferences, and, as necessary, decisions of other conferences and meetings of the Union, are implemented as quickly as possible.
