NITDA Bill: ACCCI Launches Working Committee to Review Bill and Generate Recommendations
The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has announced the establishment of a Working Committee to implement solutions and recommendations regarding the National Agency for Digital Economy Bill. development of information technology.
This was revealed by the ACCI over the weekend, according to the News Agency of Nigeria. He added that the 8-man committee would be chaired by Amb. Segun Olugbile, to review the bill and generate actions and recommendations to be submitted in two weeks.
ACCI said the establishment of the committee was the result of a meeting between ACCI, the National Chamber Policy Center of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and industry stakeholders of ICT, after controversies linked to the new NITDA bill.
Vice President, Technology, Skills and Digital Economy, ACCI, Mr. Osi Imomoh, who chaired the meeting, said that ambiguous sections should instead be clearly spelled out to enable ICT operators to understand the implications of the bill. .
“Concerns have been raised in Nigeria and the American Business Council over the Bill. The functions of the Agency according to the reactions are also not properly defined.
“The chamber forwarded the meeting in the interest of the business community to address these bottlenecks and also engage NITDA to amend some of the sections that were infringing on ICT business operations in Nigeria,” Imomoh said.
ACCI Chief Executive Victoria Akai added that despite concerns over the bill, ACCI would work through political advocacy with the aim of holding consultative meetings on the bill. .
“We intend to collect the views of our members which will now inform the position to be taken by the leadership of the Chamber. Our deliberations will generate a specific amendment to the provision of the bill as proposed by NITDA.
“Our proposed amendment to the Bill will then be forwarded to the Chief Executive of NITDA and the Honorable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy.
“Our resolutions here will also form the basis of our media engagement that will push to protect the interests of the business community.
“From the looks of things, we now have an agency that wants to take control of everything, including licensing, registration, regulations, permissions and the like,” Akai said.
NITDA said the essence of this commitment is to bring the issue to the public’s attention and ensure that the organized private sector (OPS) helps shape public sector opinion.
What you should know
Reminder Nairametrics reported last month that a leaked bill circulating on social media showed that the Nigerian Information and Technology Development Agency (NITDA) was proposing amendments to its Regulatory Act that will give the agency more control over Nigeria’s nascent tech ecosystem.
