Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Prof Isa Ibrahim Pantami says no fewer than 16 national policies relevant to boost Communication and Digital Economy have been developed in the last two years, with dozen of the policies already being implemented.
As such, the ministry and its relevant agencies and parastatals have continued to facilitate universal access to communication and provision of infrastructure, especially broadband.
This he said has contributed nothing less 17.92 percent to the nation’s GDP
The minister made the following revelations when he led a team to appear before the joint National Assembly Committees on Communications, ICT and Cyber Crimes to defend the 2022 budget of the ministry.
Pantami while presenting a review of the 2021 budget performance of his ministry Identified late release of money as well as tedious procurement process as challenges militating against the 2021 budget performance, he however gave assurance that once approval is given on the procurement process, much progress will be acheived.
The joint four Committees of the National Assembly that oversight the ministry and its agencies at the budget defence session were Senate Committee on Communications led by Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Senate Committee on ICT and Cyber Crimes led by Senator Yakubu Oseni, and their counterparts at House of Representatives.
The lead Chairman of the joint Committee, Senator Oluremi Tinubu expressed satisfaction with the resolve of the four National Assembly Committees to merge the budget defence session, saying such was a milestone.
Co-chair of the joint Committee, Senator Yakubu Oseni, who is the Chairman Senate Committee on ICT and Cyber Crimes said if what the ministry is doing can be replicated, thus, Nigeria is on road to sustainable development.
In their scrutiny of the budget proposal and assesment of the 2021 performance, lawmakers raised concerns over the performance of the over 80 billion capital budget released, which was attributed to late release of money.
While acknowledging the contributions of the ministry, lawmakers raised concerns on the fate of NIPOST and efforts to reposition it for improved service delivery to the nation, urging the minister to do all that is possible to revamp NIPOST.
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