Rights Group Asks FG to Ensure Commercialisation of NIGCOMSAT
- The federal government to ensure full commercialisation of the Nigerian Communications Satellite
- The suggestion comes days after a group said it suspected that the management of the organisation had misappropriated funds in its care
- The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project alleged that the management of the organisation failed to remit over of N95million accrued from tax payments
FCT, Abuja - Two civil society groups, Competence Governance for Accountability and Civic Trust and Global Gender Safety and Moral Development have urged the federal government to ensure full commercialisation of the Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT).
According to the groups, the move will enhance the revenue generation for the country.
Source: Facebook
The groups at a joint press conference in Abuja on Monday, March 21 argued that merely repositioning the agency would generate more revenue for the government.
Officials of the groups, Adebayo Omoba, and Deborah Duru called on the private sector especially key players in the information and communications technology sector to cooperate with the government to achieve the goal and warned against the purported move by the authorities to privatize the agency.
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The group noted:
“Whilst in our candid opinion and judgement, NIGCOMSAT Ltd has done creditably well within the circumstances it has found itself, it is not enough for citizens to hands-off NIGCOMSAT Ltd as canvassed in some quarters to profiteers who are bend on pilfering government properties in the name of privatization without a clear direction to either add value to its existing state or sustain what is on ground.”
Decrying what it termed the uncooperative postures of some government agencies to patronize NIGCOMSAT Ltd, the group further called on the federal government to match words with action on the need for more satellite for the agency.
The group particularly expressed concern over the quantum of capital flight from Nigeria to other foreign countries in the name of satellite resources while more is here at home.
The group further said:
“We have gone round the facility of the company here in Abuja, we also interacted with management and staff of the company and we are more convinced that NIGCOMSAT and the staff therein, represent some of the best Nigeria has assembled.
“Their services can best be compared to other satellite operators in the same industry globally. We have seen the Monitoring and Spectrum Management process of the Communications Satellite of the Republic of Belarus, (Belintersat-1).
“We were more than convinced with the dexterity and skills and hands-on tools the engineers have handled the engagement to ensure smooth service delivery.”
FG to spend N3.53trillion on infrastructure, human capital development in 2022
Meanwhile, the minister of finance, budget, and national planning, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, has revealed that the federal government will spend N3.53 trillion on infrastructure and human capital development in the year 2022.
She stated this during a town hall meeting organised by the ministry of information and culture in Abuja on Tuesday, February 22, and attended by a Legit.ng reporter.
The minister said Nigeria’s huge and growing population offered both an economic challenge and opportunity in the light of constrained revenue proceeds brought on by several multi-dimensional factors, including the global pandemic and its impact on the local economy.
Infrastructural development: FG stresses need for partnership with Nigerian engineers
In a related development, President Muhammadu Buhari has charged Nigerian engineers to partner with the federal government for the rapid infrastructural development of the country.
The president said this on Saturday, January 22 during the investiture ceremony of the 33rd national president and chairman-in-council of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Engineer Tasiu Sa’ad Gidari-Wudil, at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
The president, who was the distinguished guest of honour and represented by the minister of science and technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, told the audience his administration has made significant progress in the infrastructural development of the country.
Source: Legit.ng
