Nigeria's president, Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Professor Umaru Garba Danbatta as the new executive vice chairman and chief executive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). He will be taking over from Dr. Eugene Juwah whose tenure expired on July 29 and was not renewed by the incumbent administration in Nigeria.

A statement by Femi Adesina, special adviser to president Buhari on media and publicity, revealed that Prof. Danbatta's appointment is for five years in the first instance.

Many believe the Buhari administration's decision not to renew Juwah's appointment may be connected to the roles he played during the faceoff between the commission and the president's political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the most recent general elections.

The APC launched a fundraising platform in support of Buhari, but the platform was shut down by the NCC in what many described as an unfair move. The APC went to court and the NCC was ordered to pay NGN500 million damages to the APC. Buhari went ahead to win the presidential election.

Prof. Danbatta's academic qualifications include a Doctorate Degree in Electronic Engineering, a Bachelor's Degree in Electronic Engineering and Telecommunications as well as a Master's Degree in the same field.

He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, and also served as Professor of Electrical Engineering and Electronics at Bayero University, Kano and has specialised in Telecommunications Engineering and Information and Communications Technology.

Prior to his appointment as head of the NCC, Prof. Danbatta was the Head of Department, Dean of Faculty, Director, Centre for Information Technology, Chairman of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (Kano Branch), Deputy Vice Chancellor and Acting Vice Chancellor.