NCC to sanction telecom firms over Corporate Governance Code  

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said it would sanction any telecommunications company operating in the country fails to embrace the Corporate Governance Code for the industry.
This will signal the end of the two years of voluntary compliance and pave way for mandatory enforcement.
Prof Garba Dambatta, executive vice chairman/CEO, NCC, at a “Corporate governance forum: Review of the industry code” in Lagos, said the Code was largely declaratory in nature and implementation was initially voluntary across the industry thus leading to violations.
Dambatta said enforcement of regulatory stipulation is a last resort, warning that once “you are operating in a market, the rule of engagement must be respected”.
He said the liberalisation of the telecoms industry opened investment opportunities for both local and foreign companies, contributing significantly to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
According to Dambatta, in recognition of the need to sustain the phenomenal success recorded in the industry and replicate the lessons learnt in other sectors that had gone through the “Boom and Bust” cycle, the Commission in 2012 set up a multi-stakeholder Corporate Governance Working Group (CGWG) with membership drawn from across the Nigerian telecoms industry, the Commission and Corporate Governance practitioners.
The mandate of the Group, he said, was to determine the industry’s corporate governance needs and the best approach to be adopted in addressing them, adding that the CGWG developed the Code of Corporate Governance for the telecoms industry, which was published in 2014. – Nigeria Comms Week.