Last Tuesday, the local media in Nigeria had reported the NigComSat-1 satellite was not present in its orbital slot, quoting "unnamed sources" for the information. The satellite was designed to serve as the strategic backbone for the nation's communication industry and was also meant to provide the much-needed bridge to close the digital divide being experienced by African nations.

Nigerian Minister of State for Science and Technology, Dr. Alhassan Zaku, has now stated that NigComsat-I isnot missing but simply parked to conserve its energy. Zaku told State House correspondents after last Wednesday's Federal Executive Council meeting the satellite developed a problem on Tuesday, necessitating its demobilization. He said that engineers manning the satellite station in Nigeria noticed that its battery was not charging on early Tuesday (about 4:00 a.m. local time) but could not rectify the problem. In an interview with the official News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), he stated the owning company, Nigcomsat Ltd., took the option of parking the satellite to conserve its energy and avoid a collision with other satellites in the orbit. On the possible cause of the problem, Zaku said that the satellite could have been blocked from the sun, which makes it impossible for the solar batteries to recharge. He allayed the fears of companies whose payload the satellite was carrying, saying that they were being migrated to another transponder in the meantime. He then added that in the event that the satellite could not be repaired, the company that insured it would replace it with another one in the orbit or build another one. Dr. Zaku's statements echoed Ahmed Rufai, managing director of NigComsat Ltd, who also refuted allegations that NigComsat-1 was missing in orbit in earlier Wednesday.