THE Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has warned that the shutdown of telecommunications facilities in Kogi State may lead to service disruptions in parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and neighbouring states.
ALTON Chairman Gbenga Adebayo, who disclosed this in a statement, accused the Kogi State government led by Governor Yahaya Bello of imposing unusual taxes and levies on telecommunication companies in the state.
He said over 70 telecommunications sites within the state and environs have shutdown due to the inability of operators to have access to them for maintainance purposes.
“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 Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) collection,” he said.
“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 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.”
Adebayo noted that ALTON members in the state have settled all statutory levies and taxes due the state government and have taken necessary steps to comply with local laws that govern business activities in the state.
He called on President Muhammadu Buhari for intervention to prevent telecommunication blackout in the FCT, Nassarawa, Benue, Enugu, Anambra, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara and Niger States.
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