The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has announced the change in the leadership of the Nigerian Communications Commission. The new helmsman of the Commission is Dr. Aminu Maida who takes over from Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, who was EVC NCC from 2015 to 2023.
In a statement released by Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity) yesterday read that President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of new and returning Chief Executives to fresh terms in office across multiple agencies under the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy.
The Man- Dr Aminu Maida
Dr. Maida holds an MEng in Information Systems Engineering from Imperial College, London in 2002, and in 2006, he bagged a PhD in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from the University of Bath, United Kingdom.
Between 2018 and 2019, Maida completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship (FinTech Pathway) program at the Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Until his latest appointment by the President, Dr. Maida was the Executive Director, Technology and operations at Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS), the country’s central switch company owned by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and all licensed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in Nigeria.
At NIBSS, Dr. Maida was responsible for holistically spearheading the technical and operational standardization of all devices deployed in the financial system in Nigeria for interoperability. Maida led a dynamic team that ensured that all terminals used in the e-payment industry and all devices deployed in Nigeria would accept all cards issued by banks and other licensed card schemes without discrimination.
Prior to his appointment at NIBSS, Maida was the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) at the Nigerian-based FinTech Arca Payments Network and Senior Manager at Cisco Systems, United Kingdom.
As a seasoned technical professional with over 15 years of multi-functional and international experience in FinTech & Telecoms & Enterprise Technology, Maida between 2010 and 2014, worked as a Network Design Consultant at EE, part of BT Group, and one of the largest mobile communications companies in the UK. He was also at some point (2006-2010) a System Engineer at Ubiquisys, a leading company in intelligent 3G and LTE small cells, which is now part of Cisco.
Dr. Maida, a professional par excellence with a broad range of experience, making him technically strong and commercially aware, is married with children.
Other affected agencies by the change of guard include-
(1) MD / CEO, Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT) — Nkechi Egerton-Idehen
(2) DG / CEO, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) — Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi
(3) National Commissioner / CEO, Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) — Dr. Vincent Olatunji
(4) Postmaster General / CEO, Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) — Tola Odeyemi
Furthermore, in line with President Bola Tinubu’s determination to maximally leverage on Nigeria’s proven technological and digital economic prowess to reposition the nation’s economy toward greater financial inclusion, the President has approved the appointment of a new Special Adviser to the President on Technology and Digital Economy — Idris Alubankudi
