Telecommunication companies are contemplating legal action against banks concerning a N120 billion U
Telecommunication companies have not ruled out the possibility of taking legal action to compel Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to settle the outstanding N120 billion debt related to Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD).
The ongoing standoff, spanning approximately four years, is causing a growing divide between the telecommunications sector and the financial industry.
Addressing journalists in Lagos over the weekend, Gbenga Adebayo, the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), expressed regret that the matter had taken on political dimensions. He emphasized that the issue is essentially commercial, revolving around the concept of a willing buyer and willing seller. Adebayo also noted, "When they failed to make payments, it would have been appropriate to simply suspend the service. However, due to political interference, enforcing these commercial terms became challenging."
So, when you introduce political interference into a commercial agreement, you end up encountering these sorts of challenges. That's why we strongly assert that certain matters, including price adjustments, should be entrusted to market dynamics rather than government intervention, as it is not a sustainable approach."
He further explained that during ALTON's recent meeting with the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, "the minister expressed empathy for our situation and emphasized that if the involved parties act responsibly as they should, this issue should not have escalated to this point. It should have been resolved much earlier. He indicated his willingness to address it.
Adebayo, nonetheless, cautioned that if the matter remains unresolved in a timely manner, the suspension of services may become unavoidable.
In the meantime, the Federal Government has initiated an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Scheme, with the intention of granting N5 million to each of 45 startups and researchers. Tijani disclosed the commencement of the application process over the weekend, emphasizing that the aim is to facilitate the incorporation of AI into economic endeavors for the sake of prosperity.
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