LAGOS, NIGERIA – Telecommunication companies have issued fresh threats to withdraw Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services if banks do not pay their ₦120 billion debt owed to them. The telcos argue that the issue has persisted for too long, and court resolution may be necessary since banks do not seem ready to clear the debt. The Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, made this revelation while speaking to journalists over the weekend.
Despite recent efforts by telcos and banks to resolve the lingering USSD issue, which has persisted for about four years, Adebayo emphasized that if the matter has to go to court to reach a final resolution, so be it. He stated that this commercial agreement has provisions for third-party intervention, whether through arbitration or legal action.
Adebayo suggested that political interference in commercial agreements is a significant factor leading to the problem. He argued that some issues, including price reviews, should be determined by market forces rather than government intervention.
He mentioned that in a recent meeting with the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, the minister was sympathetic to the telcos’ plight and stressed that if all parties acted responsibly, the matter would not have escalated to this point.
The USSD debt issue remains unresolved, with banks and telcos discussing a repayment plan.
The threat to withdraw USSD services could significantly impact digital financial services in Nigeria and inconvenience customers who rely on USSD codes for various banking transactions.