The President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, on Tuesday, warned MultiChoice Nigeria not to dare Nigeria by going ahead to hike the tariffs of its products, while the matter was being investigated.
He said this while inaugurating a seven-member Adhoc Committee of the Senate, headed by the Senate Deputy Chief Whip, Senator Aliyu Abdullahi.
The committee was set up by the Senate on Wednesday, March 30, 2022, against the backdrop of an announcement of tariff hike by the Multichoice pay TV service provider, DStv.
Lawan said: “No operator should take us for granted. We mean business. We want you to be here. Nigeria always provides the climate for you to do your businesses but don’t abuse the laws of our country.
“Our consumers here are people who are innocent and we are prepared to protect them.
“Meanwhile, stay action. No increase. No increase. And that is to say don’t dare our country. No increase in tariffs.”
Explaining the rationale behind setting up the committee, the Senate President said: “The reason for setting up this adhoc committee is well known and this is in consistent with what we are supposed to do as members of parliament, as distinguished senators.
“When the legitimate interests of our people are threatened, we are supposed to ensure that we protect them.
“It has been the practice of many companies, especially foreign companies operating in Nigeria to treat the Nigerian consumers of their products in a different way and manner that is not consistent with global best practices.
“I am not going to preempt the outcome of this investigation but one thing is clear, that the Senate is prepared to go all the way to unearth the exact situation that is happening with respect to how much Nigerian consumers of the DStv or Pay-TV tariffs are charged and how does that compare to other jurisdictions in other countries.
The Informant247 – Naija News Today