Telecoms operators including MTN, Airtel and Globacom have pushed for cost-reflective tariff in view of extant economic realities.

This was contained in a statement jointly released by the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) and the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) on Thursday. The statement was co-signed by ALTON’s Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo; and ATCON’s President Tony Emoekpere.

The telcos called upon the government to take decisive action in addressing the numerous challenges confronting the telecommunications industry.

The telcos said telecommunications infrastructure development requires substantial investments in network expansion, maintenance, and technology upgrades.

“Despite the adverse economic headwinds, the telecommunications industry remains the only industry yet to review its general service pricing framework upward in the last (11) years, primarily due to regulatory constraints.

“For a fully liberalized and deregulated sector, the current price control mechanism, which is not aligned with economic realities, threatens the industry’s sustainability and can erode investors’ confidence.

“ATCON and ALTON call upon the government to facilitate a constructive dialogue with industry stakeholders to address pricing challenges and establish a framework that balances consumers’ affordability with operators’ financial viability,” the statement partly read.

Regarding the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the telcos also said regulatory neutrality and independence are crucial to ensuring a thriving telecommunications sector.

“Statutory provisions lend credence to this notion, as a lack of an impartial regulator will lead to a failure to maintain public confidence in the objectivity and independence of its decisions,” the statement added.

The prime minister of Haiti, Ariel Henry, resigned his position on Thursday, paving the way for a new government to be formed in the Caribbean country.

According to CBS News, Henry presented his resignation in a letter dated April 24 and signed in Los Angeles by his office.
The development occurred the same day a council tasked with choosing a new prime minister and cabinet for Haiti was due to be sworn in.

The interim council was set to be installed more than a month after Caribbean leaders announced its creation, following an emergency meeting to tackle Haiti’s spiralling and parallel political and crime crises.

The nine-member council, of which seven have voting powers, is also expected to help set the agenda of a new cabinet. It will also appoint a provisional electoral commission, a requirement before elections can take place, and establish a national security council.

Haiti has been facing security challenges since February.

Recall that gangs launched coordinated attacks in the capital, Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas.

The assailants burned police stations and hospitals opened fire on the main international airport that has remained closed since early March, and stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.

The United States Government has said that Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra were examples of individuals arrested arbitrarily by security personnel.

The U.S noted that lengthy pre-trial detention has remained a problem, denying detainees access to a court and frustrating the country’s judicial system.

The U.S. Department of State disclosed this in its ‘2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Nigeria,’ published on its website on Tuesday.

It said that in the prosecution of corruption cases, law enforcement and intelligence agencies did not always follow due process, leading to the arrest of suspects without appropriate arrest and search warrants.

According to the report, the Department of State Services (DSS) detained the suspended CBN governor “for investigative reasons” on June 10 after which a Federal High Court in Lagos, on July 25, granted him bail and ordered he be held at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre until the bail was made.

“However, the DSS immediately attempted to arrest Emefiele again, and a fight reportedly broke out between DSS agents and Nigerian Correctional Service officers as each group tried to take Emefiele into custody,” the report stated.

Meanwhile, the former CBN governor was released on bail on November 8 before he was later charged with corruption.

Similarly, the report noted that the DSS continued to detain Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, a government-designated terrorist organisation on national security grounds.

Kanu was charged on several counts including treason, terrorism, and illegal possession of firearms.

“In 2017, Kanu fled abroad after skipping bail, but was arrested and returned to the country in 2021,” the report stated.

However, in 2022, an appeal court in Abuja dropped all charges against Kanu and ordered his release, which the federal government appealed.

“On December 15, the Supreme Court overturned the appeals court ruling and stated Kanu faced terrorism charges, even though Nigeria’s secret police had violated Kanu’s rights during his arrest and extradition. Kanu remained incarcerated at year’s end,” the US said.

The report stated that a shortage of trial judges, trial backlogs, endemic corruption, bureaucratic inertia, and undue political influence hampered the judicial system.

“Some detainees had their cases delayed because the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Correctional Service did not have vehicles to transport them to court.

“Some individuals remained in detention because authorities lost their case files. In general, the courts were plagued with inadequate, antiquated systems and procedures,” the US said.