Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, defended the decision on Tuesday to authorise a 50% pricing hike for telecom services in face of strong opposition and threats of legal action from consumers and advocacy groups.
When Minister Tijani testified before parliamentarians to defend the ministry’s budget, he clarified that other economic constraints, such as growing inflation and the price of imported goods, were the main causes of the tariff increase.
“Rising inflation and operational costs are the reasons for the recent tariff increase,” Tijani, who is also spearheading the country’s ambitious 90,000-kilometre fibre project, explained to the lawmakers.
he also said, “What most people don’t pay attention to is that historically, we’ve left investment in telecommunications infrastructure to private companies. And these private companies will only go to where they can make money. They use a data set, called night-time satellite data, which will look down on the economy at night.
“They will see where light exists, and that’s where they will put their money. Because those lights, for them, indicate economic activities.”
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers stated that they intend to file a legal challenge against the tariff rise, calling it illegal and onerous.
Adeolu Ogunbanjo, the president of NATCOMS, said the media on Tuesday that the organisation would try to reverse the raise to 10% this week by interacting with the telecom regulator, NCC.
If the meeting doesn’t happen or doesn’t produce results, NATCOMS will pursue legal action the following week.
The group might agree to a little tariff rise of five to ten percent, but anything more than that would be considered unacceptable, Ogunbanjo clarified.
In response, SERAP declared the rate hike unlawful and gave a 48-hour deadline to revoke it.
“The Tinubu administration and telcos must immediately reverse the unlawful increase in calls and data costs,” the association tweeted on its official X (previously Twitter) account.
If the 50% tariff increase is not revoked within 48 hours, we’ll see in court.
Many Nigerians are upset about the growing cost of basic communication services, and the tariff increase—a necessary step to keep the telecom sector operating—has generated discussions.
Subscribers contend that low-income individuals who depend on reasonably priced call and data services for their everyday activities are disproportionately impacted by the decision.
Citing the necessity to address the industry’s growing operational costs, the NCC approved the price increase for the telecoms aiming for 100 percent on Monday.
The NCC said in a statement signed by Reuben Muoka, Director of Public Affairs, that the adjustment is the first tariff revision since 2013.
In contrast to the initial proposal by certain operators for an increase of over 100 percent, the regulator limited the adjustment to a maximum of 50 percent.
In addition to attempting to strike a balance between the interests of customers and the industry’s sustainability, the NCC characterised the decision as a calibrated response to the mounting financial challenges faced by network providers.
“The NCC has prioritised striking a balance between protecting telecoms consumers and ensuring the sustainability of the industry, including the thousands of Indigenous vendors and suppliers who form a critical part of the telecommunications ecosystem,” according to the statement.
“The NCC recognises the financial pressures faced by Nigerian households and businesses and remains deeply empathetic to the impact of tariff adjustments.
“To this end, the commission has mandated that operators implement these adjustments transparently and in a manner that is fair to consumers,” the NCC stated.