The Nigerian government has ignored calls by Nigerians and telecommunications subscribers to either reverse or slash the telecom tariff hike approval from 50 percent to 10 percent.
This comes as the Nigeria Labour Congress on Wednesday mobilized workers across the country to shut down the economy in protest against the 50 percent tariff hike approved by the Nigerian government.
In a letter dated 24 January, 2025, the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers, NATCOMS, had written to the Nigerian Communications Commission for a reduction of the 50 percent telecom tariff increment to 10 percent.
In the letter signed by its national president, Adeolu Ogunbanjo, the group of subscribers had described the 50 percent tariff hike alongside fuel and electricity price hikes as an overkill on Nigerians.
“It is an overkill. It is quite regrettable that the Commission seems to have abdicated its primary responsibility of protecting telecoms consumers from the unabridged quest of the telecoms operators to maximise profits at all costs”, the letter partly reads.
Subscribers appealed to the NCC and the government not to implement the 50 percent telecom tariff approval.
“We are appealing to the NCC not to implement the 50 percent tariff hike but to advise the operators to look elsewhere for funds; after all, all of them are private businesses.
“Even where a tariff hike is justified, a 10 percent hike would have been a balancing measure while exploring other funds-raising measures as aforementioned”, NATCOMS letter stated.
However, days after the letter of appeal, the federal government and its agency regulating the communications industry are yet to shift ground on the 50 percent tariff hike as of Thursday morning.
Consequently, on Wednesday, NLC said it has commenced mobilisation to ground the Nation’s economy on February 4, 2025, in a nationwide protest against the tariff hike.
In a communique signed by NLC president, Joe Ajaero on Wednesday, the 50 percent telecom tariff approval was described as insensitive, unjustifiable, and a direct assault on Nigerian workers and the general populace already overburdened by worsening economic hardship.
“To express our collective opposition to this arbitrary tariff hike, the NLC will embark on a nationwide mass rally on Tuesday, February 4, 2025.
“The rally will serve as a warning on the dangers of imposing such an unfair increase on a struggling population earning a minimum wage of only N70,000; a population that has suffered outrageous hikes in the price of petrol, high cost of food, hike in electricity tariff, and general rising inflation,” Ajaero stated in the communique.
The communique added that, “The congress calls on all Nigerian workers, the informal sector, and the general public to stand in solidarity against this unjust policy.”
A number of civil society organisations has also pledged alliance with NLC to ground Nigeria’s economy on Tuesday next week.
The Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre, the National Civil Society Council of Nigeria, and the Take It Back Movement condemned the tariff hike and pledged support for the NLC.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian government, through the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, has repeatedly blamed rising inflation for the 50 tariff hike approval.
He, however, refused to back down on the decision to implement the 50 percent tariff hike despite widespread rejection by Nigerians.
Apart from the planned protest, some Nigerians have also vowed to drag the Nigerian government and the telcos to court.
Four days ago, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, filed a lawsuit in court against the tariff hike.
The tariff hike, when implemented in the coming days, would see call, data, and other telecom prices go up by 50 percent.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, ALTON, Gbenga Adebayo, insisted in an interview with newsmen that there is no going back on the tariff hike.
According to him, telcos have followed due process in seeking the tariff hike, urging subscribers to brace up for its implementation in the coming days.
Recall that on January 20, 2025, the Nigerian Communications Commission announced the approval for telecom companies to hike tariffs by 50 percent.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com