Senate President directs Multichoice to reverse tariffs

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3 years ago

Lawan

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan on Tuesday warned Multichoice Nigeria to immediately reverse its tariffs and stop daring Nigeria by going ahead to hike the tariffs of its products while the matter is yet being investigated in the Senate.

Inaugurating a seven-member adhoc Committee of the Senate headed by the Senate Deputy Chief Whip, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, the Senate President warned that no foreign operators in the country should take Nigeria for granted.

The committee was set up by the Senate on Wednesday, 30th April, 2022 against the backdrop of an announcement of a tariff hike by the Multichoice pay-TV service provider, DStv.

“No operator should take us for granted. We mean business. We want you to be here. Nigeria always provides the climate for you to do your business but don’t abuse the laws of our country.

“Our consumers here are people who are innocent and we are prepared to protect them.

“When the legitimate interests of our people are threatened, we are supposed to ensure that we protect them.

“It has been the practice of many companies, especially foreign companies operating in Nigeria to treat the Nigerian consumers of their products in a different way and manner that is not consistent with global best practices.

“I’m not going to pre-empt the outcome of this investigation but one thing is clear, that the Senate is prepared to go all the way to unearth the exact situation that is happening with respect to how many Nigerian consumers of the DStv or Pay-TV tariffs are charged and how does that compare to other jurisdictions in other countries.

“DStv, one of the operators, has shown the tendency to increase the tariffs without due consultation with stakeholders and we feel this is not the right way to go about it therefore we even need to find out whether or not what we are paying already is not out of the roof and different from what other countries are charged.

“So your task as a committee is to look at the issue very dispassionately with a very clear mind and focus on what we need to know.

“The Consumers Protection Council and other agencies of government and even NGOs and CSOs are supposed to attend this kind of investigation. We need to know what roles actually such government Institutions established for the purposes of protecting Nigerian consumers perform. What are their problems if they are not doing well?

“The report, at the end of the day, is supposed to be a report that will guide the Senate to make resolutions that will ensure that Nigerian consumers of the products, Pay-TV, are fully protected but at the same time that will not emasculate the businesses.

“We want to see a win-win situation for both consumers and operators.

“But let me be very clear at this point, we are going to take on any operators who decide to charge Nigerians tariffs that are not charged anywhere outside this country.”

In his response, the Chairman of the Adhoc committee, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, assured the Senate President that his committee will do a thorough work in the interest of Nigeria.

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