Nigerian telecommunications consumers may need to brace up for the days ahead, as the Federal Government has concluded plans to impose a 5% excise duty on all telecommunications services ranging from calls to SMS to data services.
This is coming as major stakeholders in the sector, the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria -ALTON, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria -ATCON, and National Association of Telecoms Subscribers -NATCOMS, have rejected the move, describing it as anti-people, provocative, strange, insensitive and irresponsible.
They made their position in Abuja known at a stakeholders’ forum organized by the Nigerian Communications Commission -NCC on the planned implementation of excise duty on all telecommunications services in Nigeria.
The stakeholders argued that such imposition would further aggravate the suffering of the Nigerian masses who had already been pushed into hardship and extreme poverty. The new 5 percent excise duty is part of the new Finance Act signed into law in 2020 by the President.
The duty is meant to be collected by the Nigeria Customs Service, following the mandates of President Mohammadu Buhari that it should enforce the law on all telecom service providers in the country on all local and foreign goods and services.
In her presentation, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, urged stakeholders to support the implementation of the 5% excise duty, reporting that the decision was informed by the dwindling revenue of the federal government from oil and gas.
