The House of Representatives has appeal to the National Broadcasting Commission, —NBC, to dialogue with the Multichoice Group over the recent increase in DSTV and GOTV monthly subscriptions.
This call was made shortly after a debate on a motion moved by Umar Ajilo who had called for the suspension of the tariff hike.
Moving the motion, the lawmaker remarked that Nigerians were facing serious economic hardship; therefore, the timing of the increase was wrong.
In his words:
“The current economic hardship resulting from political and economic factors has made living in the country very unbearable, especially to the common man.”
He thereafter expressed his concerns at the “excessive increase in DSTV/GOTV package tariffs from N24,500 to N29,500 and N16,600 to N19,800 for the Premium and Compact Plus packages, respectively, during this trying time.”
But, the appeal for the motion was amended by Jonathan Gaza, who remarked that the government should discuss with Multichoice instead of pressurising the organisation.
Gaza’s amendment was adopted by the House when it was put to vote by the Speaker of House, Tajudeen Abbas.
While speaking in support of dialogue, the Speaker revealed that since Nigeria was a free-market society, it would be wrong to compel a private company to decrease prices.
The motion was later on approved by the House and referred to the Committee on Information to guarantee adherence.
