The House of Representatives has given telecom operators—including MTN, Airtel, and Globacom—a seven-day ultimatum to address persistent poor network services.
Lawmakers issued the directive during an ad hoc committee hearing at the National Assembly in Abuja on Wednesday, October 21, 2026.
Specifically, the committee demanded that chief executive officers of all major telecommunications companies appear in person on October 28, 2026. The legislative panel expressed deep dissatisfaction over previous absenteeism and unexcused delays by telecom executives.
Consequently, the House warned that failure to comply with the summons would attract parliamentary arrest warrants.
Parliament Criticizes Telecommunication Operators Over Poor Quality
Committee Chairman Rep. Olumide Osoba criticized operators for sending low-ranking representatives to address critical national infrastructure matters.
Lawmakers emphasized that millions of Nigerian subscribers continue suffering from frequent call drops, slow internet speeds, and failed transactions. Rep. Ibe Osonwa noted that operators generate substantial revenue in Nigeria and must be held accountable for service delivery standards.
Meanwhile, official Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) records revealed that major operators logged over 413,000 consumer complaints during the first half of 2026.
Therefore, the parliamentary investigation aims to compel operators to upgrade infrastructure and improve consumer protection frameworks.
NCC Intervention Metrics and Regulatory Compliance
Data presented by the regulatory commission showed that operators compensated 75 million subscribers for poor service performance throughout 2026.
Additionally, nearly three million customers received direct refunds for failed airtime and data transactions. Despite over 6,500 network interventions and capacity upgrades this year, public frustration with mobile connectivity remains widespread.
In response, the NCC recently introduced an automatic compensation framework to penalize carriers failing quality-of-service benchmarks.
Finally, the House ad hoc committee directed the regulatory body to enforce full operator compliance ahead of the final hearing.
