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House ad hoc committee mandates personal appearance for chief executives of MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and Mafab by 4 November 2026.
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Lawmakers reject ALTON representation, citing constitutional powers under Section 88 to issue bench warrants.
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Signal blackouts along rural corridors trigger security alerts after unserviced network gaps impede emergency calls during a fatal ambush.
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NCC records 413,587 consumer complaints in H1 2026, forcing operators to compensate 75 million subscribers.
October 28, (THEWILL) – Lawmakers in the House of Representatives delivered a final ultimatum on October 28, 2026, for chief executives of major telecommunications firms to appear in person before a parliamentary probe on November 4 or face immediate bench warrants.
The Panel Chairman, Olumide Osoba, flatly rejected attempts by the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) to send its chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, as a proxy for MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and Mafab Communications.
Invoking Section 88 of the 1999 Constitution, committee member Sunday Umeha condemned a written submission from ALTON that framed parliamentary summonses as optional invitations.
“I was shocked with what I saw in the letter. I saw a situation where ALTON is saying that they are not bound to appear before this committee. They see their appearance as a privilege to this committee and not as a statutory obligation. We have the powers to compel their appearance before us in accordance with the Constitution”, Umeha stated during the hearing.
House spokesman, Akin Rotimi, escalated the charge, asserting that persistent coverage gaps along rural transit corridors directly imperil Nigerian lives.
Recalling a deadly highway assault in his Ekiti State constituency, Rotimi connected infrastructure deficits directly to fatal security failures.
“Two traditional rulers in my constituency were killed in an ambush along a stretch of road where mobile network signals were unavailable for about 20 minutes”, Rotimi revealed, accusing operators of hoarding infrastructure inside profitable urban centres while abandoning vulnerable highways.
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Uncollected Fines And 75-Million-Subscriber Backlash
Regulatory records expose a widening gulf between corporate revenue models and consumer realities.
Disclosures from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) reveal that subscribers filed 413,587 formal complaints during the first half of 2026 alone.
While the regulator forced operators to issue compensation payouts to 75 million subscribers under its consumer framework, millions of citizens still endure dropped calls, rapid data depletion, and failed banking transactions daily.
The committee turned its interrogation toward unresolved regulatory sanctions, specifically probing ALTON’s leadership over an unpaid ₦8.46 billion fine levied against Globacom.
Lawmakers argued that an industry association cannot shield individual license holders from statutory oversight or corporate liabilities.
A representative from the NCC confirmed that official directives went directly to the corporate headquarters of each chief executive, bypassing third-party industry groups.
Corporate operators now face a stark operational choice before the 4 November deadline.
Telecom executives must either defend their infrastructure investments directly before parliament or risk statutory arrest orders executed by security agencies.
Joy Onuorah is a business journalist and brand communications specialist covering financial markets, artificial intelligence, digital economy, and the ideas reshaping business across Africa and the global market. Beyond her reporting for TheWill, Joy uses brand strategy, storytelling, copywriting, and high-value SEO to help brands build lasting market authority.
