House of Representatives on Tuesday directed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to suspend the recent 50 per cent hike in telecommunication tariffs.
The lawmakers cited the economic hardship being experienced by Nigerians owing largely to the removal of fuel subsidies.
The decision of the House was a sequel to the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Oboku Oforji, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party from Bayelsa State, during Tuesday’s plenary.
Titled, ‘Need for the Nigerian Communications Commission not to approve the impending hike in the telecommunications tariffs,” Oforji argued that though the telecommunications companies premised the hike on rising operational costs and the need for better service delivery; he noted that Nigerians were already going through a lot, just to put food on the table.
He said, “The House is aware that telecommunications companies have been advocating for the hike for the last eleven years. The Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria and the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria argued that the telcos need cost-reflective tariffs in the face of adverse economic realities like record inflation of 34.6 per cent in November 2024 and losses resulting from foreign exchange fluctuations.
Oforji reminded his colleagues that “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.
“The telecommunications companies must improve on their service delivery (poor network), which Nigerians have been yearning for for years, before embarking on the increase in their tariffs.
“The far-reaching effects of these price hikes will 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.”
He added, “Affordable connectivity is a must for progress in critical sectors like digital banking, education, healthcare, agriculture and e-governance, stressing that “Informal sector workers who depend on affordable mobile data to access gig work opportunities may find it harder to stay connected.”
He further argued that small businesses “which rely heavily on affordable telecommunication for operations, marketing, and customer engagement, will face additional financial burden, noting that “It is estimated that a 10 per cent increase in telecommunications costs would reduce small business profitability up to 7 per cent, potentially leading to the closure of businesses.”
In his contribution, Dominic Okafor, a member of the All Progressives’ Grand Alliance, justified the increment, noting that without the hike in tariff, service providers might find it difficult to deliver consumer satisfaction to millions of Nigerians.
“For these telecom service providers to improve their performances, they need to make money to make further investment in infrastructure but this increment should not go as high as 100 per cent,” he said.
Okafor’s position was however countered by Billy Osawaru, a federal lawmaker from Edo State, who called on the service providers to first improve the quality of their services before coming up with a hike in tariff.
“Why is it that when things go wrong in this country, the poor people must suffer? First, it was electricity tariff, now it is the turn of the telecom companies. Nigerians must enjoy these services.
“In the developed world, people are not used to carrying two mobile phones but this is the practice here. The thinking is if there is no service in one, you might be lucky with the other one. I believe that this increase in tariff should wait until services improve,” he said.
Following the adoption of the motion, the House urged the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy and the Nigerian Communications Commission to suspend the impending hike in telecommunications tariffs until their service improved.
