The House of Representatives has asked the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, and the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, to suspend the impending hike in telecommunications tariffs until their service improves.
This came as subscribers have started switching to alternative network providers, following a sharp increase in MTN Nigeria’s data and SMS tariffs.
The position of the House followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved by the member representing Yenagoa/Kolokuma/Opokuma federal constituency of Bayelsa State, Obuku Oforji at plenary yesterday.
Moving the motion, Oforji noted that speaking after a stakeholders’ meeting with mobile network operators in Abuja on January 8, 2025, the minister disclosed that telecommunications tariffs would soon increase.
He quoted the minister to have said consultations were ongoing, as there had been agitations from some of those companies to increase tariffs to as high as 100 per cent, adding that it would not be a 100 per cent increase and that the NCC would approve the new tariffs and announce them in due course.
The lawmaker said the argument of the telecommunications companies for a hike in tariffs includes the cost of investment, better networks, increasing demand for digital services across sectors, such as education, banking and healthcare, among others.
Oforji said: “The National Association of Telecoms Subscribers has rejected the proposed increase in tariffs, describing it as insensitive and a further burden on consumers already grappling with economic hardship, and poor network service delivery.
“It is imperative that the telecommunications companies improve on their service delivery (poor network), which Nigerians have been yearning for in years, before embarking on the increase in their tariffs.”
He also expressed concern that the far-reaching effects of these price hikes would deepen financial struggles for the average Nigerian, threaten the country’s vision of leveraging technology to drive economic revival, exacerbate poverty and widen existing inequalities, hitting lower income families the hardest.
