Senate President Ahmad Lawan says the Senate would only approve the deployment of the 5G network in the country only if the security and safety of the citizens are guaranteed.
Lawan said this on Thursday during the Joint Senate Committee on Communications, Science and Technology, ICT & Cyber Crimes and Primary Healthcare and Communicable Diseases investigative hearing on the status of 5G network in Nigeria.
The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the Minister of Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami, during the hearing differed on the deployment of the Fifth Generation Technology (5G) in Nigeria.
While ONSA said the 5G technology was capable of exposing Nigeria to cyber-attacks, military and industrial espionage and other malicious activities by foreign actors, Pantami noted that so, far no negative impacts had been established from the research and trial carried both locally and at the international level.
The ONSA Director of Communications, Bala Fakandu, urged the Communication Ministry to carry ONSA along in the development of the policy so that we could have a robust framework to take care of these areas.
Pantami said his ministry had conducted the first trial of 5G in Nigeria on 25th September 2019 and was in the process of compiling its final position.
The minister assured that there was no link between 5G and COVID-19 and any other disease.
He said: “The only issue being raised usually is about radiation. But people don’t realise that the radiation of 4G is more harmful than that of 5G.
“The radiation of the microwave oven at home is more harmful than that of the 5G. The radiation of even the smart phone itself is even more harmful than that of 5G.”
