Revert to old tariff before March or face total strike, NLC tells govt, telecom operators
•To boycott major service providers from today
•Subscribers seek sanction on operators for sudden hike
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its affiliates will begin a nationwide strike on March 1, 2025, if the telecom companies fail to revert to the old tariff.
Also, the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers of Nigeria (NATCOMs) called for sanctions on the operators for a “sudden tariff hike”. Rising from its Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Lokoja, Kogi State, yesterday, the NLC said it would not accept a raise in tariff until ongoing negotiations between it and the government were concluded.
The CWC deliberated on pressing national issues, including the 50 per cent telecommunications tariff hike, the proposed tax reform bills, and the rollout of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered buses for the North Central zone of the country. NLC noted that price adjustment by one of the major operators without waiting till the end of the month was an affront to Nigerians.
“The CWC received with grave concern the news that telecommunications companies have commenced the implementation of a 50 per cent tariff hike today, despite an earlier agreement reached with the Federal Government and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). It was recalled that a 10-man committee had been constituted to deliberate on the matter within two weeks and report back before any final decision would be made on the new telecom tariff structure,” it stated.
It, therefore, condemned the action by the telecommunications companies, describing it as a betrayal of trust, an affront to the principles of negotiation, a direct slap on the government and its institutions and a disdain for Nigerian people.
While demanding an immediate reversal, NLC added that its members would boycott MTN, Glo and Airtel services from today (February 13, 2025). The national labour umbrella body also demanded the repatriation of all funds allegedly siphoned out of the country by the companies.
It then declared the commencement of a nationwide strike effective from March 1, 2025.
“If the telecommunications companies fail to revert to the old tariff by the end of February 2025, a total shutdown of their operations nationwide will commence from March 1, 2025,” the union warned.
NATCOMs, which said it was still in court to contest the 50 per cent tariff hike approved for the operators by the Federal Government, said the service providers failed to yield to the NLC agreement, which was that a 10-man committee should be constituted to deliberate on the tariff hike within two weeks and report back before any final decision would be made on the new telecoms tariff structure.
The President, Deolu Ogunbanjo, told The Guardian yesterday, that the operators ran foul of the agreement the NCC and NLC had, “but the telcos went to hike the tariff. Subscribers are even complaining that what they saw was a 200 per cent and not a 50 per cent hike. I think the NCC needs to come out and let us know what they actually approved for these telcos.
“NATCOMs prepared to go to court as far back as January, but when NLC stepped in, we decided to wait to see the outcome, now, they have bungled the whole thing with this sudden hike.”
Ogunbanjo said subscribers were, however, not in support of the NLC protest and called for a boycott of telephony services, “but erring operators, should be sanctioned.”
Further, a telecoms lawyer, Ayoola Oke, asked President Bola Tinubu to suspend the 50 per cent telecoms tariff hike approved by the government and address what it described as a hostile market takeover by MTN, which he said was the firm championing the imposition of the price increase.
Alleging that NCC has become a victim of regulatory capture, Oke underscored the need for the intervention. He added: “Now, we have a situation that MTN has now reached a state of dominance where they can dictate to anybody in the industry. The latest figures show that MTN now has, for the first time, over 51 per cent market share, (according to) figures released by NCC as of the end of last year. I am saying that this is a result of an anti-competitive hostile takeover of the industry by MTN.”
