The Civil Society Council of Nigeria (NCSCN) has described the allegations of data theft and fraudulent billings of consumers, especially during incidences of poor network, glitches, and failures against Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), particularly MTN, as misguided.
In a press statement signed by its Executive Director, Ambassador Blessing A. Akinlosotu, and made available to Blueprint in Abuja yesterday, the council said it was compelled to step in and set the record straight on the issue sparked off by the sensitive allegation made by “our respected Comrade Omoyele Sowore, proprietor of Sahara Reporters and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC).”
According to the statement, while these utterances are of concern and should have ordinarily been noted, Comrade Sowore has taken it to a worrisome dimension by leveraging his claims to plot a nationwide protest and picketing of the headquarters of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and head offices of the Service Providers.
“As much as the Council absolutely agrees with known occasional instances of genuine consumer complaints regarding quality of service issues and wrongful billing of subscribers during network glitches and network failures, we wish to place some helpful facts that will inform a better understanding and more balanced judgement on this crucial development.
“Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on the side of the divide in contention, the leadership of the Civil Society Council honoured an invitation to one of the meetings in preparation for the planned protests. In that meeting, the NCC was bitterly indicted of complacency and lip service to the issue of fraudulent billings of citizens by MNOs, while the MNOs themselves were outrightly condemned for what was described as “economic sabotage” and “deliberate defrauding” of subscribers, the NCSCN said.
It noted that the council is fully aware that as far back as March 29, 2026, long before the media campaign by Comrade Omoyele Sowore, the management of the NCC had officially issued firm directives to all MNOs to implement a Consumer Compensation Framework for direct repayment to end users in the events of glitches, failures, or poor network.
The council explained that the compensation, to be paid from fines imposed on operators with quality of service issues, is designed to be provided in the form of airtime credits, calculated based on subscribers’ average spending patterns and their presence within local government areas where service failures occur.
“‘This is in addition to previously existing sanctions against service providers which relied heavily on monetary fines payable to the government through the NCC as Regulatory Body. Those sanctions are still seriously in place and vigorously pursued, while this latest move aims to directly benefit end-users who experience dropped calls, slow data speeds, or extended outages.
“Furthermore, we can confidently confirm that at least MTN has actually started complying with the NCC directives for compensation, by paying some consumers. The Executive Director of NCSCN is among the recipients so far, and this predates the statement made to the press by Omoyele Sowore. Proof will be made available after this conference.
‘While we see nothing wrong in “unavoidable peaceful protests,” we however keep insisting on exhaustive dialogue and unbiased consultations before resorting to confrontations, which should be adopted ONLY if and when dialogue fails.
“In the communications sector, almost all CSOs are aware that the NCC’s proactive leadership has a very robust and functional Consumers Parliament comprising many CSOs, Consumer Associations, and Service Providers, where grievances and all complaints are tabled and extensively considered from all sides, with a view to improving on service delivery.
“We urge all stakeholders to leverage existing engagement platforms. Accountability is vital. So are facts”, the statement read.