Finally, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Act has been signed into law by President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Sources close to the presidency informed that the Act was signed last weekend.
Champion Infotel recalled that the IT Act has been pending since year 2001 and was not successfully passed through the national assembly in the first dispensation.
While in the second dispensation, the national assembly through the Senate organised public hearing where the two hitherto existing bills of NITDA and IT development were harmonised.
Confirming this development to Champion Infotel, Head, Corporate Affairs at NITDA, Mr. Inye Kemabonta, said that the signing took effect last Friday, stressing that the National IT Act came out of the harmonisation process that was an outcome of the Senate public hearing.
He explained that with the public hearing, every thing was put into one bill, which is the NITDA bill, otherwise known as National IT Act.
He expressed excitement that the Act would give boost to the implementation framework of the agency.
The signing into Act of the bill came at the wake of the recent outcries by the Nigerian Internet Registration Association (NiRA), and the Joint Action Committee on ICT Awareness and Development (JACITAD) of some anomalies in the bill.
According to NiRA, specific responsibility for the chief executive of NITDA was not outlined in the new Act, even as JACITAD alleged sabotage, saying that bill passed by the National Assembly is at variance with what is before Mr. President.
This, they also alleged was capable of undermining the management of the nation’s Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD).
A letter to President Obasanjo dated Monday, January 15, 2007, sighted by our correspondent, JACITAD through its President, Mr. Sola Fanawopo, said that there exist some inclusions in the passed IT law that may subvert the aspiration of the Nigerian internet community.
“Significantly, the version that was passed by the National Assembly is at variance with proposals forwarded by the Nigerian internet community during series of extensive public hearings of which various stakeholders including JACITAD participated”, he stated in the letter co-signed by the Secretary-General of JACITAD, Mr. Prince Osuagwu.
National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) was set up by the Federal Government on 18th April 2001,to ensure the implementation of the National Information Technology (IT) Policy and to coordinate and regulate the development and regulation of the Information Technology sector.
NITDA established in 2000 has a diverse mandate and vast, with core of its responsibilities centred on fostering IT growth of the Nigeria.
No comments:
Post a Comment