The Interview Editors
The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) has refuted claims by the director general of the Nigerians In Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) Abike Dabiri-Erewa, that her agency was evicted from an NCC building as a punitive measure.
In a statement on Sunday, the director of public affairs at NCC, Henry Nkemadu, said preparations were being made for the president to commission the newly built NCC Annex and “at this time, only NCC staff were accredited to have access within this premises, as required by the security officials.”
He said all the properties belonging to NIDCOM were safely warehoused in some of the offices in the Complex.
Nkemadu said, “This is contrary to the position of the Director General of NIDCOM that the removal of her Commission from the building was punitive. This is not the correct position and we agree with her that there are always challenges in every human activity but the unforeseen challenges that arose in this case are not different but require understanding of all concerned.”
Explaining the chain of events that has led to the current situation, Nkemadu said it was “important that the general public is acquiesced with what really transpired with regard to the incident leading to the evacuation of the Diaspora Commission from the NCC building.”
He said, “Following the completion of the NCC building at Mbora, Abuja, designated as NCC Annex and the acute shortage of accommodation space for the staff of the Commission in the NCC Head Office at Maitama, Abuja, the Board of the Commission directed the decongestion of the Head Office Building.
“Some of the departments of the NCC had started moving to the new Office Complex of Five (5) Floors when discussions were held between the NCC and the Diaspora Commission to enable the Diaspora Commission also to utilise any free offices within the Complex.”
The fifth floor allocated to the NIDCOM, he said had to be used to accommodate other departments from the NCC Headquarters to ease the congestion.
He said NCC’s offer to house the NIDC was predicated on the long-held position of the NCC that agencies of government would achieve more through strategic collaboration, partnership, synergy and sharing to the extent allowed by relevant laws.
Nkemadu said, “During this period, the NCC secured approval for the commissioning of the Office Complex by the President, His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari and the launching of four important projects of the NCC and the renamed Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (FMC&DE).
“The projects include the launching and unveiling of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2020-2025; the commissioning of the Communications and Digital Economy Complex; the launching of the Emergency Communications Centre and Toll-Free number 112; and flag-off of the Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training.”
These important projects, he said, were a culmination of extensive collaboration between the NCC and the other parastatals of the FMC&DE and fittingly, the Complex was renamed the COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL ECONOMY COMPLEX in tandem with the new drive of the Federal Government towards a digital economy.
He said, “The NCC has not withdrawn the offer but had hiccups arising from the preparation for the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to inaugurate the Communications and Digital Economy Complex and launch of other projects relating to the mandate of government.
“The Board and Management of the NCC took a decision to ensure that every activity in the building was in line with the Federal Government’s digital agenda.”
He also disclosed that after the offer of the office spaces to the NIDCOM, the Director General, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, had not visited the Complex to take possession of any of the offices and also that the Commission had not started using any of these spaces as offices.
Nkemadu said, “As is usual in ensuring security and accountability before, during and after presidential visits, the building had to be cleared to allow for only known and identifiable persons to have access within the Complex.
Therefore, the Honourable Minister of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, could not have sent armed men to drive the staff of the Diaspora Commission out of the Communications and Digital Economy Complex.”
