Abolaji Adebayo There was palpable but muffled excitement among staff in the Ministry of Communications & Digital Economy as well as agencies under the ministry as former Minister, Prof. Isa Pantami exited following the winding down of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration at the weekend.
Checks by New Telegraph to feel the pulses of the staff revealed that with Pantami’s exit, they can now heave a sigh of relief from the hands of a Minister who chose regulatory capture as a way to go rather than allowing the agencies under his ministry to work independently.
Speaking with New Telegraph, some of the staff members, said the former minister was too harsh in his administration, saying he hardly allowed the agencies under his ministry to work independently.
Although they commended him for being hardworking, they claimed that his administration gave no room for the development of the agencies under him.
They said Pantami would impose on the agencies rather than consult and dialogue with the executive members of the agencies.
They cited the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Bill, which they said was unilaterally promulgated and presented to the National Assembly by the former minister as the telecom operators also confirmed that none f the stakeholders was consulted over the Bill.
The Bill has since generated controversy as the operators and stakeholders revolted against its passage by the National Assembly.
It was also gathered that the minister was unable to settle the over N120 billion USSD debt between the telcos and the banks before he left office.
“The minister gagged the agencies under his ministry. We could not make decisions on our own. He superseded every affair of the agencies, which affected us.
“He also most killed the relationship between the agencies and the media, he would always truncate any efforts to strengthen our relationship with the media,” one of the top officials in one of the agencies told our correspond.
