ALTON, MTN, Airtel, Glo, T2 Sue House of Reps Over Network Oversight

Nigeria’s telecom operators have sued the House of Representatives at the Federal High Court in Abuja over lawmakers’ powers to investigate poor network services and summon their chief executives. The suit was filed on November 4, 2026 by the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, MTN Nigeria, Airtel Networks, Globacom and T2 Mobile.

The operators want the court to clarify Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, which cover legislative investigations and the power to summon witnesses. The dispute is whether Parliament can directly probe private telecom companies over service quality or whether that work belongs to the Nigerian Communications Commission.

What the operators want

ALTON and the four operators argue that parliamentary investigations must stay within constitutional limits. They say such probes should relate to lawmaking and exposing corruption, inefficiency or waste in the administration of laws and public funds. Their case is that telecom companies are private businesses that do not administer legislation or manage funds appropriated by the National Assembly.

They are asking the court to declare the lawmakers’ summonses unconstitutional. They also want an order stopping the committee from issuing arrest warrants against their executives.

The operators further contend that the National Assembly and the NCC should not duplicate regulatory roles. Under the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 and the 2024 Quality of Service Regulations, the NCC sets, monitors and enforces telecom service standards.

How the House fight escalated

Lawmakers insist that NCC regulation does not remove telecom companies from legislative scrutiny. They say the National Assembly has oversight over laws governing the telecom industry.

The face-off escalated after the House Ad Hoc Committee on Telecommunications Quality of Service invited telecom executives on October 21 to explain widespread service complaints. After the executives were absent at an October 28 hearing, lawmakers issued fresh summonses requiring their personal appearance on November 4. The committee also threatened arrest warrants if they failed to comply.

ALTON offered to represent its members, but lawmakers rejected the arrangement. The committee insisted that individual operators must account for their performance.

The new suit follows an earlier legal dispute reportedly initiated by ALTON in 2018 over similar legislative summonses.

Subscribers still wait for relief

The legal battle comes as subscribers still face dropped calls, unstable internet, failed data transactions and network disruptions. In October, the NCC said operators compensated about 75 million subscribers for poor service in 2026. Nearly three million customers also received refunds for failed airtime and data transactions. The commission reported more than 6,500 network interventions.

NCC Executive Vice Chairman Dr Aminu Maida disclosed the compensation figure on Tuesday, October 20, at the 95th Telecom Consumer Parliament in Lagos.

The court’s decision could set the boundary between legislative oversight and telecom regulation. For subscribers and Nigerian businesses, the immediate test is whether the dispute leads to better network reliability and clearer accountability from operators.