Faced with widespread public outcry over unfair network charges, the Senate has ordered a four-week investigation into telecom operators over arbitrary airtime deductions for failed, dropped, and interrupted calls, targeting major networks including MTN Nigeria, Globacom, Airtel, and T2 Mobile.
Seconding the motion sponsored by Chief Whip, Senator Tahir Monguno, Delta state lawaker, Senator Ned Nwoko, emphasized the widespread impact on subscribers:
“This is a well-thought-out motion. It is very straightforward. It is all about consumer protection. We need to make this particular motion at this critical time because… we all experience the same technical issues”.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, warned that the Senate will step in directly if the Committee on Communications fails to produce results within the timeframe;
“Four weeks is too long, but we can allow it. If in four weeks they don’t satisfy us, then we have to take it as a Committee of the Whole and invite all the operators, in addition to the Minister overseeing the NCC and also the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, to ask these pertinent questions”.
Akpabio stressed the urgency of protecting consumers from ongoing financial exploitation:
“The public is complaining, and our job here is to make sure that we tackle the concerns of the Nigerian public and also the losses they suffer that are actually avoidable”.
The probe mandates independent technical audits, strict enforcement of quality standards, and automatic refunds for verifiably failed calls.
