CSNAC, the Civil Society Network Against Corruption has filed a Freedom of Information (FOI) request with the National Communications Commission (NCC) seeking documents which state the total cost of dropped calls from all telecommunications networks between September 2012- September 2013.

In the petition, dated October 21, 2013, CSNAC recalled a report by the Economic Intelligence Unit in the United States which showed that in 2012, Nigeria lost $126 million (N20billion) to dropped calls.
“On February 5th, 2013, www.humanipo.com reported that an estimated 31 billion naira (US$194 million) was wasted by Nigerian telecoms subscribers on dropped and unconnected calls in 2012; and the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) spending of 102 million subscribers amounted to around103 billion naira which connotes that more than 30 per cent of all call costs are wasted.”
The group noted that it is only in Nigeria that subscribers are subjected to this kind of hardship as a result of the poor quality of services and communication infrastructure offered by the country’s various telecoms services companies.
It reminded the NCC that it is the supervisory body charged with the responsibility of ensuring quality and value-for-money services from the telecom companies, as well as taking appropriate actions to protect the good people of Nigeria from the exploitative and sub-standard attitudes of the telecoms services providers in the country.
CSNAC therefore asked for the documents establishing the value of dropped calls over all the networks in the year between September 2012 and September 2013 within the seven days required by the FOI law.
CSNAC is a coalition of over 150 anti-corruption organizations whose primary aim is to vigorously and constructively combat corruption; ensure the effective monitoring of the various anti-graft agencies; and contribute to the enthronement of transparency, accountability, probity, and total commitment in the battle to eradicate corruption in Nigeria.