Guests To Bankers: Liquidate Your N45 Billion Debt To Telcos Or Risk Litigation

• Appeal To NCC, CBN To Close Ranks
• Want More Telcos To Offer End-to-end Financial Services

By Clifford Agugoesi, Editor-in-Chief

The Bankers Committee has been advised to cause their members to respect the agreement brokered by telecommunications sector regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC) and banking sector regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) in respect of offsetting the accumulated N45 billion(US$ 118,147,446.00) owed telecommunications firms for unstructured supplementary service data(USSD) services. 

Recall that in statement made available to newshounds, authored by the Chairman  and Head of Operations of the  Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria(ALTON), Engr. Gbenga Adebayo and  Gbolahan Awonuga, respectively, ALTON threatened its “members are initiating a phased process of withdrawal of USSD services, starting with the most significant debtors within the Financial Service Providers (FSPs) effective Monday March 15, 2021.”

To stave off the cataclysmic consequences carrying out this threat could cause subscribers in particular and the economy in general, as earlier reported by this medium, the Minister for Communications and Digital Economy , Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami on March 15, 2021 chaired a meeting of key stakeholders to discuss an amicable resolution in the interest of the general public.

Represented at the meeting were the various MNOs, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), DMBs (represented by the Chairman, Body of Bank CEOs) and the sector regulators – Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigerian Communications Commission.

We had reported among other things that: “After comprehensive deliberations on the key issues, a resolution framework acceptable to all parties was agreed thus:

Effective March 16, 2021, USSD services for financial transactions conducted at DMBs and all CBN – licensed institutions will be charged at a flat fee of N6.98k per transaction. This replaces the current per session billing structure, ensuring a much cheaper average cost for customers to enhance financial inclusion. This approach is transparent and will ensure the amount remains the same, regardless of the number of sessions per transaction…”

But it would appear that barely had the bankers walked out of the meeting with the memorandum of action (MOA) as it were than they reneged on the agreements.  Speaking to Channel TV’s Ayo Makinde on Sunrise Saturday, both the President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria(ATCON) Engr. Ikechukwu Nnamani and President National Association of telecommunications Subscribers(NATCOMS), Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, respectively, advised the banks to respect the agreement reached in the foregoing meeting by liquidating the USSD accumulated debt of N45 billion and to apologise to Nigerian telecommunications subscribers for subjecting them to untold hardship by their action and inaction during the Easter festivities.  Both Engr. Nnamani and Chief Ogunbanjo believe that the banks had no reason to fail to carry out agreements reached between them and operators on the telco side of things.  Ogunbanjo was in the Sunrise Studios for the show, while Nnamani participated over Zoom.

While Nnamani was irked the banks had not reciprocated the gesture from telcos who did not disconnect them for being indebted to the tune they did, because they appreciated their position to offer their infrastructure and services in the interest of the national economy, Ogunbanjo was disturbed the banks had not apologized to subscribers and threatened his association might head for the courts to seek redress.  Depending on how things turn out, the NATCOMS President said his association might drag the banks to court “towards the end of April or first week in May.”

Both men were agreed the Bankers Committee was in a position to cause their members to respect the agreement reached with the telcos as both the NCC and the CBN had done their best in the circumstance, even while appealing  to them  both to up their game.  On the way out of the USSD challenge, Ogunbanjo spoke of his preference for the Kenyan mobile money model that is substantially telco-led.  Nnamani said this was already happening with the CBN licensing some telcos to offer end-to-end financial services but urged for more telcos to be empowered to do so and help drive financial inclusion in the country.