Business
Reps Move To Probe Telecom Providers …Over Under-Payments
The House of Representatives last Thursday set up an ad hoc committee to investigate alleged under-payments made by telecommunications service providers to the Federal Government.
The resolution emanated from a motion on the need to address the massive loss incurred by the Federal Government due to the activities of the telecommunication service providers.
The committee is to report back to the House within four weeks for further legislative action.
Moving the motion, Rep. Yusuf Tajudeen said that Nigeria recorded colossal lose of revenues from the service providers, who consistently took advantage of regulatory loopholes to underpay the government.
According to him, considering the volume, values and traffic on each of the service providers, the revenues generated by Nigeria through operating levy, as well as income tax on proût paid by the firms have been grossly inadequate.
Tajudeen expressed worry that the Federal Government receives only revenues based on what is declared by the telecom operators through their self-assessment and self-declaration mechanisms usually skewed in their favour.
He said that the Nigerian Communications Commission does not carry out appropriate verification of the volume of transactions done by these telecom providers.
“Sometime in April 2015, without the approval of the NCC, the telecom service providers unilaterally increased the termination fee for inbound international traffic into their networks to N10 per minute from N3. 90k.
“This led to increased revenues for these firms without corresponding increase in revenues accruable to the Federal Government.
“Unlike some neighb-ouring countries, Nigeria does not have a well-structured platform to duly verify the transactions and declarations made by telecom service providers with a view to correcting the anomalies in revenues remitted to the Federal Government,’’ he said.
Tajudeen further said that due to the absence of effective monitoring mechanism, Nigeria had lost humongous revenues because the huge traffic brought in at higher termination fee was usually credited as local calls.
“And the service providers pay the Federal Government same rate as the rates from local calls.
“Service providers take advantage of the non-uniformity of data computed by the NCC and the National Bureau of Statistics in terms of inbound termination calls into Nigeria by paying the Federal Government whatever suits them.
“Despite its size, population and traffic of international calls, revenues paid to the Federal Government is abysmally low when compared with other countries.
“Ghana with the implementation of International Inbound Traffic Regulation, generated about $ 143million as additional revenue between June 2010 and June 2012,’’ the lawmaker said.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has criticised Nigeria’s import ban on 25 categories of goods, claiming that the restrictions limit market access for American exporters.
This is the effect of President Donald Trump’s tariffs introduction on goods entering the United States, with Nigeria facing a 14 per cent duty.
The USTR highlighted the impact of Nigeria’s import ban on various sectors, particularly agriculture, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and consumer goods.
The restrictions affect items such as beef, pork, poultry, fruit juices, medicaments, and alcoholic beverages, which the United States sees as significant barriers to trade.
The agency argues that these limitations reduce export opportunities for United States businesses and lead to lost revenue.
“Nigeria’s import ban on 25 different product categories impacts United States exporters, particularly in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and consumer goods.
“Restrictions on items like beef, pork, poultry, fruit juices, medicaments, and spirits limit United States market access and reduce export opportunities.
“These policies create significant trade barriers that lead to lost revenue for United States businesses looking to expand in the Nigerian market”, the agency said .
In 2016, Nigeria implemented the ban on these 25 items as part of efforts to control imports and stimulate local production.
Some of the banned items include poultry, pork, refined vegetable oil, sugar, cocoa products, spaghetti, beer, and certain medicines.
On March 26, 2025, the Federal Government also announced plans to halt solar panel imports to encourage local manufacturing as part of its push for clean energy.
A leading agribusiness strategist and digital agriculture expert, Ayo Oluwa Okediji, has sought cooperative-driven investments in sustaining growth of poultry industry in Nigeria.
He said the poultry industry was at a defining moment and requires urgent structural reforms to secure its future and ensure long-term sustainability.
Speaking on the theme, “Strengthening Poultry Farming Through Cooperative Synergy and Strategic Investments”, at the recently concluded Oyo Mega Poultry Workshop 2025 in Ibadan, Okediji called on poultry farmers, cooperative leaders, financial institutions and policy makers to rethink the existing structure of the poultry sector.
He stressed the need to transition from fragmented, individually-driven operations to well-structured, cooperative-led enterprises capable of attracting sustainable financing and securing long-term viability.
He said, “Our poultry sector cannot thrive on individual effort alone. We need to organise ourselves into cooperative clusters, build strong governance systems and position ourselves to attract the level of investment needed to sustain this industry beyond this generation.”
Drawing on lessons from successful global cooperative models such as Rabobank in the Netherlands and Landus Cooperative in the United States, Okediji introduced the FarmClusters Poultry Model, a locally adapted solution developed by Agribusiness Dynamics Technology Limited (AgDyna), a subsidiary of AgroInfoTech Africa.
According to him, the model is currently being piloted in Oyo State in partnership with PANOY Agribusiness Limited and local poultry cooperatives.
The Rivers State Representative of the Nigeria Chambers of Commerce, Mines, Industries and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mr. Erasmus Chukwundah, has urged palm oil farmers to consider hybrid seedlings for planting, if they must break even in palm oil business.
Chukwundah said this recently at the Free Oil Palm Business Climate Smart Best Management Practice/Assistance Training organized by Partnership Initiative In Niger Delta (PIND) for Palm Oil Farmers in Elele, Ikwerre Local Government Area.
The Rivers representative said until palm oil farmers begin to consider such hybrid oil palm seedlings, they may not meet up with the daily increasing demand of palm oil in the market.
According to him, the seedlings produce up to 30 bunches at once that ripen same time.
He said PIND decided to partner with Oil Palm Growers Association of Nigeria (OPGAN) to ensure that the message was received by the targeted audience.
According to him, palm oil remained a popular choice of industry operators as it could be converted to many other products such as vegetable cooking oil.
He also noted that products such as motor tyers, marine ropes and others are now gotten from the palm tree.
Chukwundah, who is the immediate past Director-General of Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Mines, Industries, and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), further warned against use of unrecommended fertilisers in growing oil palms.
He noted that such practices could limit its export value or chances as the foreign marketers have a way of detecting such .
He reiterated the need for organic fertilizers, including poultry droppings, to enable them have a natural palm oil.
“People must reduce physical contact with palm oil production. That is why we are campaigning for hydrolic oil mills. The foreign markets are no longer interested in crude method of palm oil production”, he said.
Meanwhile, one of the farmers, Sonny Didia, who appreciated Chukwundah’s commitment towards the concern of farmers, appealed for an urgent need for loan opportunity with low interest rate in order to enable them beat the target.
King Onunwor