The Association of Telephones, Cable TV and Internet Subscribers of Nigeria, National President, Hon ‘Sina Bilesanmi on behalf of over 223 million Telecom Subscriber membership across Nigeria in his statement from Maduguri over the weekend Congratulate Mr Olatunji Bello, on Thursday 25th July, as officially assumed his role as the Chief Executive Officer/Executive Vice-Chairman of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC). boss.
ATCIS mission that says to promote mutual co-existence, fair play, defend the rights of Subscribers, by endorsing and ensuring good products and network service delivery from network operators and service providers to our corporate and individual members, while providing a platform to advance the rights of Telephone, Cable Tv and Internet Subscribers,
Hon Bilesanmi welcomes him on board that ATCIS are Ready, Happy to Work & Collaborate in advocacy with FCCPC. Bello’s assumption comes a month after President Bola Tinubu appointed him and follows the Senate’s confirmation of the appointment on Tuesday 23rd July. He takes over from Adamu Abdullahi, who has been leading the Commission in an acting capacity since the removal of the former helmsman, Babatunde Irukera in January.
Mr Bello is a lawyer, administrator, journalist and former secretary to the Lagos state government. He holds a Master’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos; he studied Law at the same university and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2002. “Mr Bello began his career in journalism at the Concord Newspapers in 1985 and held the positions of Group Political Editor; Sunday Concord Editor, and Editor, National Concord. He is a winner of the US Alfred Friendly Press Fellowship and was appointed the Chairman, Editorial Board of THISDAY Newspapers in 2001. “He also served as Commissioner for the Environment under various administrations in Lagos State,”
Mr Bello brings a wealth of experience to the FCCPC, and we are confident he will be a strong advocate for fair competition and consumer protection in Nigeria,” The tasks before Bello Coming in at a time when global attention is on the FCCPC after imposing a landmark fine on social media giant, Meta, over discriminatory practices against Nigerians, Bello will be expected to up the ante in consumer protection in Nigeria.
*What you should know*
The FCCPC is the apex consumer protection agency in Nigeria, established to promote competition, protect consumers, and ensure the welfare and interest of consumers through the adoption of measures that ensure the safety and quality of goods and services.
The Commission promotes fair competition by preventing anti-competitive practices, such as monopolies, cartels, and abuse of dominant market positions. This ensures a level playing field for businesses and benefits consumers with better choices and prices. The FCCPC monitors and regulates market activities to ensure compliance with consumer protection laws and competition regulations. It conducts market investigations and enforces compliance through legal actions when necessary.
The Commission educates consumers about their rights and responsibilities.
It also advocates for consumer interests in policymaking processes and engages in public awareness campaigns to inform consumers about issues affecting them.
President Tinubu expects the new Chief Executive Officer of the agency to fully realize the Commission’s mandate by safeguarding and advancing the interests and welfare of Nigerian consumers.
The consumer protection function of the Commission cuts across all sectors of the economy, from telecom to manufacturing, to banking, to power, among several others, thus giving the leadership a very wide spectrum of attention and focus.
In the same vein, the new FCCPC boss will be expected to strengthen moves to sanitize the digital lending space, an area the former CEO, Irukera, had made a mark by facilitating the registration of digital lenders in the country to tackle the menace of harassment and defamation of borrowers from the loan apps.
While some success has been recorded in that some of the digital lenders are now under the control of the Commission, a lot is still required to get rid of loan sharks and unregistered digital lenders that continue to perpetrate unwholesome practices.
Meanwhile, there have also been concerns over the Multichoice owner of DStv,Gotv and rising debt in the digital lending space as many Nigerians continue to borrow from registered lenders without paying back.
Hon Bilesanmi uses the medium to tell CEO, FCCPC that before October end ATCIS Countesy Visit to him also appreciates ATCIS members for their corporations and urged telecom subscribers to remain focused & united, emphasizing that they hold significant market power. He reiterated ATCIS’s commitment to fighting for subscriber rights and ensuring good quality service.
ATCIS has a history of advocating for citizens’ rights, spending over N834 million on this cause. The organization has secured employment opportunities for its members, featured in over 1007 newspaper publications & numerous media outlets tagged “Know Your Right as Telecom Subscribers”and achieved 347 successful programs and reforms. ATCIS remains dedicated to protecting the rights of telephone, cable TV, and internet subscribers across Nigeria.
The new FCCPC-CEO will also be expected to come up with new policies to address a lot of issues in which ATCIS teams will be available to help out and put our Support anytime whenever FCCPC-CEO call on ATCIS for engagement, collaboration and Involment engineering