The House of Representatives has threatened to impose fresh sanctions on leading telecom operators in Nigeria after their Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) failed to appear before its ad hoc co
The House of Representatives has threatened to impose fresh sanctions on leading telecom operators in Nigeria after their Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) failed to appear before its ad hoc committee over issues relating to poor network quality in recent months.
This marks the second time in two consecutive weeks that the CEOs of MTN, Airtel, Globacom and Mafab Communications have failed to appear before the House as directed.
At the meeting of the House Ad Hoc Committee on Telecommunications Service Quality on Wednesday, per PunchNews report, lawmakers considered imposing new sanctions and noted that the industry’s regulatory framework and pending court proceedings cannot undermine the constitutional powers of the National Assembly.
House of Reps
Recall that telecom operators, under the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), had previously questioned the House of Reps’ authority to compel telecom operators to give an account on pressing matters. They also demanded clarity on the constitutional grounds that empower lawmakers to investigate matters within the telecom industry.
Also read: Lagos directs telecom operators to clean up poorly maintained infrastructure.
A matter that has triggered more urgency is how lawmakers ordered ALTON to a walkout, noting that it will not tolerate any unapproved or unauthorised appearance which might warrant detention.
“You are not invited. You are an intruder. This will be the last warning. On no account, except you are invited, should ALTON, under any guise whatsoever, appear before this committee again,” said Sunday Umeha, who represented the ad-hoc committee Chairman, Olumide Osoba
When the telco CEOs failed to appear for the initial inquiry on October 28, they claimed that the ALTON Chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, has the authority to represent them. However, the House of Reps rejected this and pointed out that since each telecom operator was given separate licences, they must all appear to give account of the poor network status on November 4.
In response to these claims, Sunday Umeha, who presided over the meeting, questioned whether the operators had obtained a court order that restrained the committee from proceeding with its investigation. Also, lawmakers accused ALTON of disregarding an earlier directive that the association was not invited to the proceedings.
The directive to telecom operators comes in the wake of consistent complaints by Nigerians over a massive drop in quality of service. The CEOs were summoned to explain the cause of dropped calls, slow internet connections, failed airtime, failed data transactions, and poor network coverage in several Nigerian communities.
Ground of ALTON-led telecom operatorsALTON tagged the directive as a scenario that raises “serious constitutional questions” about the scope and limits of legislative investigative powers. While responding to questions from journalists over the weekend, Gbenga Adebayo explained that the summons exceeded the boundaries set by the 1999 Constitution.
The ALTON Chairman noted that he appeared before lawmakers not with the intention of preventing individual operators from discharging their legitimate responsibilities, but to ensure that the Committee understood the industry’s concerns and the constitutional issues arising from the nature of the summons.
Lawmakers then told Adebayo that he could not represent the individual operators in that capacity.
The dispute brings another clash of regulatory supremacy vs duplication. At the centre is the interpretation of Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, which grant the National Assembly investigative powers for specific legislative purposes.
The ALTON Chairman argued that the critical question is “whether those powers extend to compelling privately owned and regulated telecommunications companies to account for their commercial and operational activities in circumstances where the matters being investigated fall within the statutory jurisdiction of the sector regulator.”
Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of ALTON
He noted that ALTON has several pending cases at the Federal High Court that seek a judicial interpretation of the Assembly’s oversight powers over telecom operators.
While he acknowledged respect for accountability and willingness to cooperate with lawmakers, he mentioned that the House of Reps should complement the role of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and not stand to duplicate it.
At its 95th Telecom Consumers Parliament in Lagos, the NCC revealed that over 75 million subscribers had now been compensated for poor service. It added that telecom operators had carried out more than 7,000 targeted network interventions in 2026.
Also read: Nigerian telecom operators roll out 8,526 tower sites in first 8 months of 2026 – NCC.
