By Gabriel Ameh
Despite the Federal Government’s revocation of the 5 per cent telecommunications tax on voice and data services, Nigerian telecom subscribers continue to complain about rapid data depletion and high service charges.
In September 2025, the Federal Government announced the removal of the 5 per cent tax on telecom services as part of measures to ease the financial burden on Nigerians amid prevailing economic pressures.
The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida, confirmed the directive, noting that it came directly from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“The directive came directly from President Tinubu to ensure that Nigerians are not further burdened at a time of economic pressure,” Maida said.
The decision was widely welcomed by Nigeria’s over 171 million telecom subscribers, who viewed it as relief for both business operations and personal communication needs.
However, more than four months after the announcement, many users say they are yet to feel the impact, lamenting what they describe as unusually fast data consumption by network providers.
On Tuesday, media personality Dr. Rufai Oseni publicly raised concerns over his experience with mobile data usage, calling on telecom operators and internet service providers to address the issue.
“Dear network providers, please fix your data. I did 10GB and it lasted just a couple of days. This wasn’t the case before,” Oseni wrote on his X account.
He also expressed frustration over network migration issues, alleging that a provider failed to properly transition customers after a rebranding exercise, leaving his phone without network reception.
“Is the NCC seeing all these?” he queried.
Responding to growing complaints, the Nigerian Communications Commission explained that data depletion may be influenced by several factors beyond regular browsing activities.
According to the Commission, data usage can be affected by high video streaming quality, faster download speeds, background applications, automatic updates, and other system processes running on users’ devices.
The NCC added that it would continue to engage and educate subscribers on data consumption patterns while monitoring service providers to ensure compliance with industry standards.
More details are expected as the Commission intensifies public awareness on efficient data usage.
