The controversy surrounding the bill to repeal the National Information Technology Development Agency Act continued at the hurriedly arranged joint public hearing by the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on ICT and Cyber Security held at the Senate on Friday.
Other formalities such as the declaration of the hearing open by the Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawan, the welcome address by the chairman Senate Committee on ICT and Cyber Security, Senator Yakubu Oseni and his House counterpart, Hon. Lado Abubakar Suleja had gone normally.
However, immediately the public hearing was called to order by Senator Oseni, a member of the House Committee, Hon Nkem Uzoma-Abonta raised a point of order.
Abonta who is the member representing Ukwa East/West Federal Constituency of Abia State called for the public hearing to be postponed to January noting that only a handful of members of the House Committee on ICT and Cyber Security were in attendance .
He also said even those available for the meeting didn’t have a copy of the bill, while the minister for Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Pantami and the Director-General of NITDA, Katie Inuwa Abdullahi were absent at the hearing.
The lawmaker stressed that things should properly done with the minister and the NITDA boss physically present to speak on the bill spearheaded by them.
He also suggested that members should be sent copies of the bill ahead of time.
The Lawmaker opined that the National Assembly shouldn’t be in a hurry to host a public hearing on a sensitive bill as members especially the Christians, were already in a holiday mood but were only sticking around as the 2023 budget will be passed on 28th December.
He said: “This is a bill that will protect the integrity of Nigeria in the Internet space. But the drivers of the bill seem to be running on low gear. When the Senate President ably represented here spoke, he talked about people peddling the rumour that we are holding a secret hearing. No, here there is nothing secretive about this, we are here in this hall.
“However, the needed ingredients for us to proceed are not available. I am speaking from the side of the House. We have conferred among ourselves. We have 36 members of the committee and how many of us are here?
“Critically too, we don’t have the required documents here. I can’t find the Director-General of NITDA; the minister is not here. What needs to be done should be seen to be properly done.
“His position was immediately supported by the member representing Ukanafun/Oruk Anam Federal Constituency of Akwa-Ibom State, Hon. Idem Unyime, who stated that he wasn’t sent a copy of the bill which needed to be properly scrutinised and understood by lawmakers due to its importance.
The Senate Committee Chairman, Senator Yakubu Oseni in his response said that members of the House were sent copies of the bill and the notice for the public hearing was properly sent out to members in both Chambers.
He said: “I want to put it on record that if there are anomalies or any documents that you didn’t see, that should be a fault from your side as House of Representatives members.
“As far as we on the other side are concerned everything is intact. The bill has been circulated, the necessary documents have been circulated online, that’s on one hand.
“On the other hand, even if the NITDA Director-General is here, he won’t be the one to speak, he has a representative, the legal person will speak on behalf of NITDA. I have not seen anywhere that representatives are not allowed to speak.
“I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t go on with this public hearing. In our end in the Senate we are ready.
His explanation didn’t stop the murmuring and division among lawmakers present, as another member from the House, Hon Isiaka Ibrahim moved a motion that public hearing be adjourned based on the issues raised by his colleagues.
Bowing to pressure, Senator Oseni announced that the public hearing has been adjourned sine die.
Indications that the public hearing wouldn’t have gone on as usual first came when the Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate and representative of the Senate President, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, cautioned those he accused of describing Friday’s public hearing as a secret meeting.
Abdullahi stated that the National Assembly had no ulterior motive and had followed due process in calling for the public hearing on the NITDA Bill.
Stakeholders in the ICT had raised an alarm over the hurried move by the Joint Senate and House Committee on Information Communications Technology, ICT, to pass a controversial bill to govern the Nigerian Information Technology Development Agency.
Stakeholders had expressed suspicion that the Committee had the ulterior motive to pass the bill without substantial public participation.
It was also alleged that the submissions of the industry stakeholders made during its first public hearing, were jettisoned.