House of Reps Expels ALTON Officials Over Network Issues

On November 4, the House of Representatives ordered representatives of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) to leave a hearing regarding poor network quality. The lawmakers threatened sanctions against telecommunications company CEOs who did not honor legislative summons.

This confrontation arose during a meeting of the House Ad Hoc Committee on Telecommunications Service Quality in Abuja, where CEOs of MTN, Globacom, Airtel, and T2 Mobile failed to appear. ALTON officials claimed to represent the companies but were rejected by the committee, which emphasized that each operator is independently responsible for its service standards.

The committee's chairman, Olumide Osoba (Rep, Abeokuta North/Obafemi Owode/Odeda), and presiding officer Sunday Umeha (Rep, Ezeagu/Udi) warned that further unauthorized appearances could lead to detention. This incident followed a directive for arrest summons against the CEOs for previous non-compliance.

The investigation was initiated due to numerous complaints from subscribers about poor service delivery.