NCC To Release Code For Telecoms Industry

The Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Eugene Juwah, has said that the commission would soon release corporate governance code for the telecommunication industry.
Juwah announced the plan in Lagos at a Stakeholders’ Consultative Forum on Guidelines for Corporate Governance in the Telecommunications Industry.
Represented by  the Commissioner for Stakeholders Management in NCC, Mr Okechukwu Itanyi, Juwah  said the code would ensure that the companies maintained best practices in their operations.
He said the purpose of the forum was to discuss and agree on the collective gains of the working group prior to the launch of the code.
“The first stakeholders’ consultation on corporate governance highlighted the absence of a common code to which all operators can align.
“The need to bridge this lacuna thus became apparent. Consequently, the immediate step the commission took in addressing this situation was the creation of an industry working group,” he said.
Juwah said the Corporate Governance Working Group (CGWG), inaugurated in October 2012, had focused on identifying the corporate governance priorities for the Nigerian telecoms sector.
He said the working group also focused on considering and agreeing the target and scope of the code, among others.
He said that NCC was determined to promote good corporate governance as well as corporate governance code for the telecoms industry.
According to him, it is imperative that operators align with and uphold a code of corporate governance which is specific to their industry.
The Chairman of CGWG, Dr Fabian Ajogwu, said that the working group would conclude its assignment by the end of July.
Ajogwu said that the telecoms industry was an important industry, hence, the need for a corporate governance code to keep it focused.
He said that the working group had worked closely with the operators and had looked critically at issues of board management and financial reporting, among others.