This was expressed by the Minister of Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, who distanced his ministry from the controversial data tariff increase, denying that it authorized it.
Also, Adebayo maintained that the Federal Government never issued any directive to either the regulator, the NCC, or the telecommunications operators in the country authorizing increases in prices of data from today as claimed.
“I wasn’t consulted. The government did not authorize operators to raise tariffs.” He said
He further assured Nigerians that the government would look into the matter and continues to protect their interests.
“I can tell you that I was never a party to it (data tariff hike). Government never gave any such instruction. This government believes in democratic process and we would continue to protect the interest of Nigerians,” he stated.
The government’s reaction became necessary after Senate ordered the suspension of the increase and condemned it in totality.
The implementation of the new tariff, which was billed to take effect today, December 1, met several condemnations by the general public on twitter and other social media platforms. Senator Ben Bruce was one of the well-meaning Nigerians that condemned the proposed tariff increment on twitter.
