The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project; SERAP has filed a lawsuit against the administration of President BOLA TINUBU and the Nigerian Communications Commission over what it described as the “arbitrary and unreasonable” fifty per cent increase in telecom tariffs.

Our Tech Industry monitor; ADEBAYO SAMUEL confirmed that The NCC recently approved the tariff hike, which raised the cost of a one-minute call from N11 to N16.5, the price of 1GB of data from N287.5 to N431.25, and SMS charges from N4 to N6.

The hike has sparked widespread criticism, with SERAP leading legal opposition to the decision.

In the suit filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, SERAP contends that the tariff hike infringes on citizens’ rights to freedom of expression and access to information as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution and international treaties.

A statement issued by SERAP argued that the decision disregards the principle of legality, which requires fairness, reasonableness, and adherence to due process in the exercise of statutory powers.

It added that the increase comes amidst Nigeria’s economic challenges, with a recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics revealing that 133 million Nigerians are multidimensionally poor.