Adebayo Shittu, the Minister of Communication, says a proposal by the
\nNigerian government to impose a 10 per cent tax on phone calls, text
\nmessages, data and more, would help enhance telecommunication services in
\nthe country.<\/p>\n
The plan has been widely criticised.<\/p>\n
But Mr. Shittu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Osogbo,
\nOsun State, that the proposed tax would also help to improve
\ntelecommunication infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a lot of deficiency in the provision of infrastructure in the
\ntelecommunication sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I believe that those who proposed the bill must have thought that
\ngovernment centrally relies on tax because without tax, government cannot
\noperate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The minister said the ministry was proposing a workshop to sensitise the
\npublic on the new bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are proposing a workshop on the bill for all stakeholders in
\ntelecommunication services, operators and even ordinary man.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope that at the appropriate time, when the figures are out, everybody
\nwill appreciate the need for such a tax in which at the end of the day
\nwill improve services and make everybody happy.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody is complaining every day over lack of quality and good
\nservices, drop calls and all of that.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll these are caused by deficiency in infrastructure and Nigerians, I
\nbelieve that we cannot shy away from what will provide government with
\nresources to improve facilities,\u201d Shittu said.<\/p>\n
The minister promised that the government would continue to provide
\nenabling environment for telecommunication operators in the country. (NAN)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Adebayo Shittu, the Minister of Communication, says a proposal by the Nigerian government to impose a 10 per cent tax on phone calls, text messages, data and more, would help…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n