Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, has withdrawn his candidacy for the position of Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union.

Tijani announced the decision in a LinkedIn post on Friday, saying he chose not to pursue the position after “careful consideration.”

The withdrawal comes four months after President Bola Tinubu nominated Tijani as Nigeria’s candidate for the position.

His withdrawal ends Nigeria’s bid to secure its first-ever election of a Nigerian to one of the ITU’s top positions in the organisation’s 160-year history.

Tijani said that while the position was attractive both personally and nationally, he believes his most consequential contribution at this time is to remain focused on digital transformation programmes in Nigeria.

“The opportunity was undoubtedly attractive, both personally and for Nigeria, as it would have presented the historic prospect of a Nigerian serving as one of the ITU’s elected officials for the first time in its 160-year history.
“However, I believe the most consequential contribution I can make at this time is to remain focused on the critical work before us at home,” the Minister said.

Tijani said he made the decision to focus on several major digital infrastructure and public sector technology projects being implemented by the Federal Government.

The projects include Project BRIDGE, which aims to deploy 90,000 kilometres of open-access fibre infrastructure nationwide.

Tijani also pointed to NUCAP, which seeks to extend mobile connectivity to millions of Nigerians in underserved and unserved communities by deploying thousands of new telecommunications towers.

Other initiatives include the development of two new communications satellites, a national alphanumeric postcode system and the Nigeria Web Design Standards.