SERAP sues FG, NCC for increasing call, data, SMS rates by 50%

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has filed a lawsuit against the administration of President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian Communications Commission over what it described as the “arbitrary, unconstitutional, unlawful, unfair, and unreasonable” 50% increase in telecom tariffs.

The NCC recently approved the tariff hike, which raised the cost of a one-minute call from N11 to N16.5, the price of 1GB of data from N287.5 to N431.25, and SMS charges from N4 to N6.

The hike has sparked widespread criticism, with SERAP leading legal opposition to the decision.

In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/111/2025 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court, Abuja, SERAP is asking the court to determine “whether the unilateral decision by the NCC to authorise telcos to hike telecom tariffs by 50 percent is not arbitrary, unconstitutional, unlawful, unfair, unreasonable and inconsistent with citizens’ freedom of expression and access to information.”

The organisation is also asking the court for “a declaration that the unilateral decision by the NCC to authorise telcos to hike telecom tariff by 50 percent is arbitrary, unfair, unreasonable and inconsistent and incompatible with citizens’ freedom of expression and access to information, and therefore unconstitutional and unlawful.”

SERAP is seeking “an order of interim injunction restraining the NCC, its officers, agents, privies, assigns, or any other person or persons acting on its instructions from further implementing, enforcing and doing any act to give effect to the decision of the NCC authorizing telecom tariff hike by 50 percent.”

In the suit, SERAP is arguing that: “The legal and constitutional provisions as well as international standards on freedom of expression and access to information constitute the repository of legality. The requirements of legality constrain the exercise of statutory powers by the NCC to authorise any increase in telecom tariffs.”

The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, read in part: “The demands of legality impose clear duties of fairness and reasonableness on the NCC in the exercise of its powers to authorize the telecom tariff hike by 50 percent, which is the subject-matter of this suit.

The NCC is required under the legal provisions on consumers’ rights and constitutional and international standards on freedom of expression and access to information to base its decision on reasonable interpretations of its enabling statutes and guidelines and other relevant legal frameworks, and to follow due process.”

The statement further noted, “Access to communication is not a luxury; it is a fundamental right.

“The government and the NCC have a duty to ensure that telecommunication services remain affordable, especially for the millions of Nigerians living in poverty.”

No date has been set for the hearing of the case, which could have significant ramifications for telecom regulation in Nigeria, the statement noted.