Credit: NCC
Nigeria has emerged chairman of West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA) for 2021.
Nigeria emerged by consensus at the 18th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Assembly on Thursday, March11, 2021 in Abuja.
Also voted in as Executive Secretary (ES) is the Nigerian candidate, Engr. Aliu Yusuf Aboki, whose emergence followed a keenly-contested election by member states.
Aboki scored the highest number of total votes cast, ahead of contestants from Liberia, Guinea, and Benin, who also fielded candidates for the same elective position. He succeeds the outgoing ES, Elhadj Mamman Laminou of Niger Republic, who has held sway at WATRA for two tenures.
Elated by the development, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, expressed optimism that the emergence of Nigeria as both Chairman and Executive Secretary of the sub-regional Assembly, will offer a new impetus for greater collaboration among member states to further drive the rapid development of the telecommunications industry for the benefit of the sub-region.
In the last 17 years, Aboki has worked in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry and has the lofty agenda to work with member state regulators and other stakeholders to make WATRA play a more strategic role in shaping the regulation of the telecoms sector in the sub-region.
His agenda as the new ES of WATRA includes harmonisation of technical standards, connectivity with societies across borders, ensuring sound regulatory framework for telecommunications service delivery in West Africa, increased focus on ICT as a tool for socio-economic development as well as ensuring closer collaboration amongst member countries.
