Following several complaints by the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria over what it described as incessant summon of its members by the National Assembly ad-hoc committees, the lawmakers have insisted that they have the powers to invite any business owner to the legislative chambers for clarifications.
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Information and Communication Technology, Hon. Shehu Gusau, told our correspondent that his committee had always acted on complaints of subscribers, as their protection remained its obligation.
We don’t invite people for fun or to disturb them from their duties
He said, “We don’t invite people for fun or to disturb them from their duties, but if there are complaints raised on the floor of the NASS, we call them for questioning, after which it is debated.
“Then it becomes a motion, and the clerk of the House is now mandated to summon whosoever has been mentioned, even from the business community. That is what has happened in this case.”
On the case filed against the National Assembly by the operators, Gusau insisted that the court could not give a perpetual order that an invitee summoned to the NASS should not honour the invitation.
However, the operators under the aegis of ALTON and Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria are bent on challenging the incessant summon in the law court.
The Chairman, ALTON, Chief Gbenga Adebayo, argued that summoning members of the group, especially the managing directors/chief executives over similar issues at different times, soon after honouring one, was disturbing and had been a clog in the wheel of telcos’ operations.
Similarly, the President, ATCON, Mr. Olusola Teniola, who described the development as unfortunate, explained that there wasn’t any extensive dialogue among the NASS, Nigerian Communications Commission, National Information and Technology Development Agency, ALTON and ATCON on the reported issues.
Teniola said, “There should have been a dialogue on some of the oversight functions of NASS and there was need to know in specific what NASS tends to achieve with various ad-hoc committee calling on operators every now and then.
“The several summons contradict the Federal Government’s ease of doing business strategies, as it scares investors from the country. The economy cannot progress where the executive and legislative arms are not working in harmony.”
