By Prince Osuagwu, Hi-Tech Editor

Telecommunications operators in the country yesterday gave the federal government seven days ultimatum to prevail on Kogi state to unseal some of their facilities which have been under lock and key in the state for a few days now.

The telcos say failure to unseal the facilities in seven days will leave them with the last option of taking some undisclosed actions that will surely not be favourable to the business image of the country.

• Kogi govt warns telecoms coys against tax evasion

Pressed to disclose some of the actions, the telcos say all they could reveal was that the actions would be detrimental to the image of a country as having put some ease of doing business steps in place. 

They also expressed concern about the dwindling quality of services around FCT and Abuja, saying it is caused by the inability of the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA, office of the Director for Signage & Advertisement, to grant telcos permit to build infrastructure in the Federal capital city.

They called on President Buhari, VP Yemi Osinbajo, and the chief security officers to prevail on these two states to avert a national telecom blackout.

Recall that Monday, the telcos under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria, ALTON, warned that nine out of the thirty states of the federation may experience telecom black if the Kogi state government continued to keep some of their telecom infrastructures in the state, locked down.

The facilities according to the telcos, were shut down over alleged failure to pay some taxes and levies imposed by the state government.

However, Chairman of the umbrella body of the telcos, Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria, ALTON, Engr Gbenga Adebayo, at a press conference in Lagos, yesterday, said his members have paid all legitimate taxes and levies in the state, describing the ones in dispute as “unusual”.

Adebayo said over 70 sites within the state and environs have been shut down as a result of not allowing its members to access and maintain them and calls on President Buhari to intervene urgently to avert a telecom blackout that may affect Abuja too.

Adebayo, said: “The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, ALTON wishes to express concern about the shutting down of telecommunications facilities in Kogi State as a result of disputes arising from unusual taxes and levies demanded by the Kogi State Government through Its Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KIRS). 

“This issue is likely to lead to a total communications blackout in the entire Kogi State, parts of Abuja the Federal Capital Territory and possible impact on service availability in some parts of the following States: Nassarawa, Benue, Enugu, Anambra, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara, Niger States. These are States sharing borders with Kogi State.

“This situation arises as a number of critical telecommunications sites belonging to our members have been closed and sealed up by Kogi State Government in an attempt to increase its Internally Generated Revenue IGR Collection. 

This action followed an ex-parte court order obtained by the KIRS over unsubstantiated allegations that our members are in default of tax payments to the state government (which is not the truth) and access to these critical telecom sites has been denied.

“As a result of these actions by the state government, our members are unable to refuel power generators in these sites, a situation which has led to outage of over 70 sites including hub sites across parts of Kogi State. Now, with a likely impact on the Nine States surrounding Kogi (namely:- Nasarawa, Benue, Enugu, Anambra, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara, Niger States. These are States sharing borders with Kogi State), and Abuja the FCT inclusive.

“We are very concerned that this indiscriminate action has the potential of further leading to a total telecommunications outage in Kogi State with neighboring states and parts of the Federal Capital Territory adversely impacted.

“To the best of our knowledge, our members have settled all statutory levies and taxes due to the Kogi State Government and have taken necessary steps to comply with local laws that govern business activities within Kogi State” he added.

He also said: The Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA, office of the Director for Signage & Advertisement has refused to grant telecommunication Service Providers a permit to build infrastructure in the Federal capital city. This is affecting the quality of services around FCT and Abuja. The problem is created by the governing authority in the FCT. Telecommunications services drive on the terrestrial infrastructure. We hereby call on the Federal Executive Council to prevail on the FCDA in granting approval/permit to our members to deploy infrastructure. ALTON and its members will no longer tolerate discriminatory charges against the sector. 

“The industry is planning to begin a study on varying tariffs to some of the unfriendly telecommunications States in other to accommodate their demand. Those States that are requesting for non-statutory levies and taxes are the ones being subsidized by some viable States”. 

The association also expressed concern over the rising cost of diesel and its implications on the generally high cost of business. “We are concerned that unless there is an intervention to save this sector, operators will have no choice than to begin a process of price review”.