By Oluwakemi Kindness
The House of Representatives has warned that persistent telecommunications service failures could undermine confidence in technology-driven processes ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general election.
Chairman of the House Ad Hoc Committee on Telecommunications Service Quality, Olumide Osoba, raised the concern while speaking to journalists after the committee’s meeting in Abuja on Wednesday.
Osoba said reliable telecommunications networks were essential to electoral processes, warning that continued disruptions could raise questions about the reliability of infrastructure needed for the elections.
He also identified small and medium-sized businesses that depend on Point of Sale (POS) terminals and electronic payment platforms as major victims of poor network services.
The committee’s investigation followed growing complaints from subscribers about dropped calls, disappearing data subscriptions, unreliable internet connectivity and frequent network disruptions.
At Wednesday’s meeting, the committee ordered representatives of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) to leave after the chief executives of major telecommunications companies failed to honour a fresh summons.
Representatives of MTN, Globacom, Airtel and T2 Mobile appeared on behalf of ALTON instead of the individual company executives invited by the lawmakers. They said the operators had instituted legal proceedings challenging the summons but attended out of respect for the National Assembly.
However, the lawmakers rejected their appearance, insisting that the invitations were addressed to the individual companies. The committee maintained that each operator held a separate licence and must personally account for its services and obligations to subscribers.
The development followed an earlier directive by the House for arrest summonses to be issued against the chief executives over their failure to honour previous invitations. The lawmakers had given them until November 4 to appear.
Osoba, who was represented at the meeting by Rep. Sunday Umeha, questioned whether the operators had obtained a court order restraining the committee from conducting its investigation.
He maintained that Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, empower the National Assembly to investigate matters within its legislative mandate and exercise oversight over relevant institutions.
He also argued that the Nigerian Communications Commission’s regulatory responsibilities did not exempt telecommunications operators from legislative scrutiny.
Osoba said the investigation would continue until the operators accounted for the persistent service failures and presented concrete measures to improve network quality.
The committee adjourned its proceedings until next Wednesday, when it expects the chief executives of the affected telecommunications companies to appear in person.
Osoba warned that the House would enforce its summonses and invoke relevant constitutional powers if the operators continued to disregard its directives.
