Etisalat : NCC begins code of corporate governance enforcement
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has commenced enforcement of its code of corporate governance to ensure business prosperity and corporate accountability among the operators in the telecom industry.
This is coming on the heels of the Etisalat debt crisis which has led to the ownership crisis of the company between a consortium of lender banks and the owners of the telecom firm.
Speaking at the 80th edition of Telecom Consumer Parliament (TCP) Tuesday in Abuja, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta said the commission had taken steps to ensure that the telecommunication sector remained vibrant even as one of the players was wading through crisis.
Prof Danbatta, who was represented by the Executive Commissioner (Stakeholders Management), Mr Sunday Dare, also said the commission had carried out its regulatory functions to ensure that the companies operating in the industry were health.
“In addition, to ensure that licensees in the industry continue to operate as viable businesses, we have commenced aggressive enforcement of the NCC’s Code of Corporate Governance”, he said.
The telecom industry’s code of corporate governance was formulated to stem the tide of emerging risks in managing telecom businesses and to safeguard investor capital and enhance stakeholder values, according to NCC.
A top NCC official told Daily Trust that the Etisalat debt crisis might have informed the commission’s decision to move from a voluntary to a mandatory regime of the code of corporate governance among the players in the industry.