Outrage yesterday trailed the Federal Government’s approval of 50 per cent hike in telecommunications tariff, with the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, rallying Nigerians to reject “another harsh burden” and threatening to mobilise workers to boycott telecom services.
This is just as the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, described the tariff that will begin next month as outrageous, lamenting that it will worsen the harsh living conditions of workers and Nigerians.
Similarly, the Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, rejected the hike, which it said was ill-timed and did not consider the plight of suffering Nigerians, even as the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria HURIWA, described the hike as “an illegal, unconstitutional, and oppressive policy that undermines Nigerians’ fundamental rights and freedoms.”
HURIWA also accused the Federal Government of further impoverishing citizens through a policy that stifles freedom of expression and access to essential communication services.
Recall that the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, had on Monday, approved a rise in tariffs for telecom operators by 50%, against the 100% rise demanded by the operators.
This immediately drew the ire of the consumers’ association which described government’s approval as not only punitive but also insensitive.
The NLC expresses its unequivocal condemnation of the Federal Government’s recent approval, through the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, of a 50 per cent increase in telecommunication tariffs.
‘’This decision, coming at a time Nigerian workers and the masses are grappling with unprecedented economic hardship, is a clear assault on their welfare and an abandonment of the people to corporate fat cats.
‘’For a worker earning the current minimum wage of N70,000, this means an increase from N7,000 to a staggering N10,500 per month or 15 per cent of his salary—a cost that is unsustainable.
