The Federal Government of Nigeria (FG), has said that it will not stop at giving approval to the Nigerian Communications Satellite Lit (NigComSat) for the purchase another Satellite but will also make sure the project is completed this year (2022)
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, stated this while addressing the press on Monday when he toured the agency’s base in Abuja.
“That approvement of federal government which I have secured has been forwarded to NigComSat. Now it is on the table of NigComSat to answer that question. I want to make sure that as I said that 2022 is NigComSat year along with NIPOST, I want to make sure that all work must be completed by 2022.
“As I said earlier 2022 has been dedicated to NigComSat and NIPOST, and I want to do the best I can to improve what we have achieved in the previous years.” He said
Speaking further he said, “I recently approved two subsidiaries of NigComSat and I am here to supervise what they have been doing. And I discovered some areas where we need to work to improve their performance significantly.”
He also stated that for the agency not to be considered for privatisation again; it must provide quality service and generate good revenue.
“Before I was made the Director General National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), there was the Orosaye report which reconmended for the scrapping of NITDA. But when I was able to turn things around from generation of seven billion to 19 billion in a year, no one talks about scrapping NITDA again. So if you are able to turn things around, render quality service and generate income, no one will talk of privatising your company again.” He emphasised
The Director General, NigComSat, Abimbola Alale, appreciated the minister for his immense support.
“We all know what our budget used to be (200m, 300m), for a company that needs capital after overhead. He stood for us and said there must be something good in NigComSat because he is a man who believes that we can actually turn around NigComSat.”
She also assured the minister of the agency’s readiness to deliver quality service and generate revenue to justify the Ministers efforts at revitalising the agency.
“This year the Honourable Minister has given us many challenges and I know you are ready to meet the challenges. The subsidiaries are self funding and sustaining.
“This year, Nigerians will see significant changes that will make them know that NigComSat is a new company. The minister has pushed us and NigComSat is truly a global company.
According to her Pantami is the first minister to add NigComSat to the National Broadband Plan (NBP).
