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E-Transmission: PDP Reps Call For Prosecution Of NCC
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Caucus of the House of Representatives, yesterday, called for the prosecution of the head of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for allegedly lying to the country on the possibility of electronic transmission of election results.
The Leader of the Caucus, Rep. Kingsley Chinda, made the call, yesterday, in a press statement.
“It was a show of shame on the floor of the House of Representatives on Friday, July 17, 2020, during the consideration of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
“The comedy of errors started by the House stopping INEC from appearing before the House to prevent the nation from learning the truth and allowing only NCC to appear to discuss issues on the ability or otherwise of INEC to handle electronic transmission of votes.
“Officials of the NCC led by Executive Director, Ubale Maska, who represented the Executive Vice Chairman, Prof Umaru Garba Danbatta, appeared and oath was administered on them consistent with Section 5 of the Legislative House (Powers and Privileges) Act 2017.
“While testifying before the House, on the adoption of electronic transmission of results from the units”, Ubale Maska claimed that the 2018 Technical Report of the NCC showed that only about “50 percent of the polling units had 3G while 49 percent had 2G network and below”.
His answers and body language clearly betrayed his intense desire to mislead the House and the nation.
“He cleverly sought to rely on 2018 data in 2021, when they knew or ought to know that Internet penetration has advanced substantially in Nigeria since 2018.
“Indeed, a perusal of NCC Website even today shows that the Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2020-2025 (P.33) says that by September, 2019, the “Spread of 3G/LTE” had reached 74.2 percent in Nigeria.
“Furthermore, MTN recently announced that they have achieved extensive nationwide network coverage of 89.9 percent. This is just MTN, not to talk of other Networks.
“Perhaps, the worst form of perfidy, deception and outright lies is for NCC to hide the Memorandum of Understanding between NCC and INEC in 2019.
“During preparations for the 2019 general election, INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, had in January, 2018, visited the NCC to discuss collaboration that would enhance the electoral process.
“A joint technical committee of INEC and NCC was subsequently formed with a mandate to map out strategies that would reduce human interventions in the transmission of election results. The committee was headed by Maska and co-chaired by Muhammed Lecky, an INEC national commissioner.
“After several meetings and engagements, it was then recommended that the INEC/NCC joint technical committee should consider and adopt the traditional data communication service from MNOs using APN as the most appropriate solution for the electronic transmission of election results”, he stated.
According to him, “The icing on the cake is the categorical declaration by INEC through Festus Okoye, their spokesman that INEC has the capacity to transmit election results from any part of the country, no matter the terrain has put the final nail on the coffin of the purveyors of the fallacy that it cannot be done. Electronic transmission has recently been deployed by INEC in Edo, Ondo, Borno, Kaduna elections etc.
“It is obvious that there are Fifth Columnists and anti-democratic elements who are afraid of a free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria.
“For a witness to be sworn under Section 5 of the Legislative House (Powers and Privileges) Act 2017, then, proceed to lie under oath and give false evidence to the House is an offence under Section 7 of the same Act. We call on the prosecuting authorities to immediately arrest the officials of the NCC, under Danbatta and all those who procured Ubale Maska and other officials to lie under oath to be criminally investigated and where found culpable, be brought to justice by standing criminal trial.
“We must maintain the integrity of our laws and sanctity of our institutions as a nation.
“On Friday, Maska, was asked about the possibility of hacking INEC’s electronic transmission system; if the NCC has ever done a coverage analysis of the entire country; if it is possible to upload election result where there is not network like online registrations and bank service; if NIGCOMSAT can deploy a satellite that covers the entire country and provide services for polls; if Unstructured Supplementary Service Data can work.
“Maska partly said, ‘The first question as to whether the commission has done an analysis of network coverage nationwide, especially captured and un-captured, which I prefer to mean served or un-served areas, and this can be broken down into states, I must say here that, yes, we have this data. We have it nationwide, we have it on a state basis and we have even on the basis of service whether it is 2G, 3G or 4G or LTE. We have all these analyses’.
“We did an analysis of network coverage in 2018 in respect of all polling units in the country. We found out we had about 119,000; we were able to get the coordinates of about 109,000 and we plotted across the map of the country. We superimposed the network coverage with that of service providers.
“We plotted 2G, 3G and (4G) LTE coverage. We were able to see that about half of the polling units were covered with 2G/3G services, roughly about 50.3 per cent. Then, about 49.7 did not have any coverage; they had only 2G, and about 8000 polling units had none at all.”
When asked if results could be transmitted via a 2G network, the NCC official said INEC was the appropriate authority to answer the question.
“From a personal standpoint; from what I could tell from what is required, it is only 3G that could give that kind of transmission in full,” he added.
On hacking, Maska said, “I’m sure it is open knowledge to us here that there is no system that is safe from hacking. You can do your best to secure it but no system is 100 per cent hack-free. I’m sure members would have read about the elections in the United States in 2016 and the widespread belief that the election was hacked by the Russians. Every day you read about hackers breaking into banks, insurance companies and other industries. So, hacking is always a possibility.”
About offline capturing of data, the NCC official said, “This is possible. It is possible that in an area that is not covered, you could record it and then physically move to another location. But, you cannot guarantee this kind of movement. It does not compare with direct transmission from the source.”
Maska, however, said he could not comment on NIGCOMSAT and its satellites.
President Bola Tinubu has approved the nomination of four new members to the Governing Council of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement yesterday, said the appointment is to fill existing vacancies and strengthen the board’s capacity.
The statement said the approved nominees are Mr. Olusegun Omosehin of the National Insurance Commission and Engr. Wole Ogunsanya of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria.
Tinubu also endorsed the nomination of Sam Onyechi, who represents the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum and Barrister Owei Oyanbo from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
The President encouraged the new members to leverage their expertise and dedication to enhance local content development within Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
It added, “The nominations arose from the exit of previous institutional representatives from the Governing Council.
“The NCDMB Governing Council, established under Section 69 of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act, 2010, comprises representatives from key institutions.
“These include the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum, and the National Insurance Commission.”
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has announced plans to construct additional hostels, rehabilitate roads, and enhance power supply in the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT).
NDDC’s Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, disclosed this during a visit to the commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt, yesterday by a delegation from the UNIPORT’s Governing Council.
Ogbuku stated that the NDDC had committed to upgrading facilities at UNIPORT as part of efforts to foster partnership with educational institutions across the Niger Delta.
According to him, the implementation of additional projects at the university forms part of a broader strategy to improve education standards in the region.
“Aside from the construction of new hostel blocks and installation of a 300 KVA solar inverter system, the NDDC will also facilitate more projects in the university.
“The commission will also deploy its engineers to assess the condition of UNIPORT’s roads and hostels for potential rehabilitation,” he said.
Ogbuku noted that upon completion, the projects would add to various initiatives previously undertaken by the commission at the university.
“These and other projects reflect our commitment to actualising President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda in the Niger Delta region,” he added.
He reaffirmed the NDDC’s dedication to fostering development and strengthening partnerships across the region.
Earlier, Sen. Mao Ohuanbunwa, Chairman of UNIPORT’s Governing Council, who led the delegation commended the current leadership of the NDDC for its achievements in accelerating development in the Niger Delta.
He highlighted the university’s infrastructural challenges, noting that it lacked adequate facilities to accommodate its growing student population, and appealed for the NDDC’s support in addressing the shortfall.
“Currently, UNIPORT has a total student population of about 50,000, while its hostel accommodation capacity can only cater for 5,000 students.
“We therefore urge the NDDC to assist in the construction of additional hostels, improve transportation facilities, and facilitate the acquisition of gas turbines to enhance power supply for our students,” Ohuanbunwa pleaded.
The Vice Chancellor of UNIPORT, Prof. Owunari Georgewill, commended NDDC for its impactful projects across the Niger Delta and extended an invitation to the commission to participate in the institution’s forthcoming 50th anniversary celebrations.
The Senate has rejected a motion to rename the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters after the former chairman of the defunct National Electoral Commission, late Prof Humphrey Nwosu.
Nwosu presided over the June 12, 1993, presidential election, which was truncated by the former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd).
The election which was won by the late business mogul, Chief MKO Abiola, was adjudged to be the freest and fairest in the electoral history of Nigeria.
The motion to rename INEC after Nwosu was re-sponsored by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe yesterday after lawmakers threw it out last Wednesday.
Abaribe called for posthumous national honours to be conferred on Nwosu in recognition of his role in Nigeria’s democratic evolution.
However, the proposal sparked a heated debate once again, with lawmakers deeply divided over Nwosu’s legacy.
Senator Osita Ngwu acknowledged that Nwosu operated under a military regime, which restricted his ability to announce the results.
He argued that “there was no way he would have announced the results with a gun to his head. That doesn’t change the fact that some of us see him as a hero.”
Senator Austin Akobundu, however, described it as most uncharitable for lawmakers to dismiss Nwosu’s contributions, insisting that he deserved a place in Nigeria’s hall of honour.
On the other hand, several senators like Senator Jimoh Ibrahim dismissed the idea outright, questioning why the Senate should honour someone who failed to announce the results insisting that “nothing should be named after him”.
Senator Cyril Fasuyi argued that history does not reward efforts, but only results.
“As long as he did not announce the result, whether under duress or not, I am against naming INEC headquarters after him,” he submitted.
Also, Senator Sunday Karimi criticised Nwosu for lacking the courage to speak out, while Senator Afolabi Salisu warned that immortalising him would undermine the memory of MKO Abiola, the widely accepted winner of the June 12, 1993, annulled election.
“Any attempt to do anything beyond a one-minute silence is to rubbish Abiola’s legacy,” he tendered.
After intense deliberation, most senators rejected the motion through a voice vote.
They, however, agreed to honour him with a one-minute silence and extend condolences to his family, effectively dismissing the other prayers to immortalise Nwosu.