6th July, 2011
Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly will soon pass a bill on Consumer Protection into law.
When passed into law, the bill, according to the Speaker of the House, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, would protect the rights of consumers in the state.
The Speaker made this statement at a plenary during which the lawmakers lamented the poor services rendered by the nation’s telecommunication companies in recent times.
The lawmakers who spoke in Yoruba language, a rule of the House for Thursday sittings, narrated their experiences with the various service providers after one of them, Lanre Oshun, drew their attention to what he described as the incessant removal of charges by telecommunication service providers.
Oshun asked his colleagues to join him in calling on the service providers to address the alleged ugly trend, while he decried a situation where customers are short-changed.
Common instances, according to him, are situations where the amount on vouchers loaded by customers vanish immediately from their phones without making calls and without an apology or refund from the providers.
Some other members who spoke on the issue expressed displeasure over the illegal removal of credit even when calls are not made.
The lawmakers said there is need to look into Consumer Protection Rights Bill which is at the Committee stage.
The House subsequently called on the Federal Government and the Nigerian Communications Commission, the telecommunication regulatory body in the country, to find urgent solution to the issue.