By Sarah Adams
Minister of Communications, Innovations and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani has attributed the recent hike in the tariffs by the Mobile Network Operations, MNOs, to global inflation.
Dr. Tijani stated this in an interview with newsmen after the Ministry’s 2025 Budget defence, in Abuja.
He explained that the MNOs had for long, trying to effect the increment because of the global inflation but were prevented from doing so by the federal government.
“I think the hike in price is based on on inflation globally, this is a Sector that has not increase price for a long time, in fact what government is been doing is managing the situation” he stated.
The Minister stressed that the company has been crying out for a long time, because of the cost of diesel, to run their facilities.
“you can imaging how much is the cost of diesel, this not problem that is unique to Nigerians, but what we have done with them is saying that telecommunications services are now extremely important to Nigerians, .so it’s not something you can increase price. We have make sure the sector continue sustainable and as well we don’t want them to inflate pain on Nigerians” he emphasized
Mr. Tijani therefore assured Nigerians that the Ministry would continue to ensure they get quality services for their money.
“We will ensured that, even as we increase the tariffs, that the MNOs can continue to deliver best quality services to the people. NCC is doing a lots more tracking now to ensure that the quality of the services that people will get is at good quality”Mr. Tijani said.
The tariff hike, capped at a maximum of 50 percent, falls short of the over 100 percent increase initially sought by some network operators.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) recently approved requests from Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to increase tariffs by up to 50 percent.
The decision followed consultations with stakeholders across the public and private sectors, as the regulator sought to strike a balance between protecting consumers and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the industry.
