CJN: NCC worthy telecom regulator

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, has described the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) as a worthy telecom regulator in Nigeria for its efforts in promoting awareness and knowledge of Information Communications Technologies (ICT), particularly among the judiciary.

The CJN said this at the 2023 edition of the NCC-hosted annual workshop for judges on telecommunications issues in Kano on Monday, September 18.

The NCC hosted the event in collaboration with the National Judicial Institute (NJI).

Justice Ariwoola, who is the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the NJI, said information technology and telecommunication services have surpassed the conventional method of court service delivery, noting that the use of the internet has become a prominent feature of this era with innovative and interactive influences on the public, hence the crucial nature of the workshop.

Addressing the theme of the workshop, ‘The Adjudication Path in a Digital Era’, the CJN said it struck a chord with the current realities that judicial officers face technologies that have fundamentally transformed how they communicate, access information, and conduct legal proceedings.

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“We are obliged to embrace this transformation while ensuring that doing justice remains at the forefront of our efforts,” Justice Ariwoola was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the NCC spokesperson, Reuben Muoka, on Tuesday, September 19, 2023.

Also speaking at the event, the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, expressed gratitude to the CJN and the top echelon of the judiciary for finding time to attend the workshop and promised the commission’s resolve to deepen knowledge of the digital future on the judiciary as a very critical and indispensable arm of government.

Danbatta said the commission is responsive to the rapid changes in the telecommunications and technology space, adding that the NCC has taken steps to start the review of its enabling legislation, the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 (NCA,2003), assuring that stakeholders will get the opportunity to make input to the amendment.

Speaking on the importance of the workshop, Danbatta noted that the telecommunications sector has evolved since the NCA 2003 came into existence hence the need to be responsive in readiness to keep pace with the dynamics of technologies that will come.

The EVC noted that the workshop afforded the NCC the opportunity to engage the judiciary on how to adopt digital technologies in advancing the course of justice.

The Star