The Federal government has directed telecommunications operators to halt their plan to disconnect debtor banks from Unstructured Supplementary Service Data services (USSD) as from Monday (tomorrow).
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, in a statement signed by the Technical Assistant (Information Technology) to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Femi Adeluyi, on Saturday, directed the operators to hold on.
The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria had announced on Friday that they would disconnect banks from USSD services on Monday due to their over N42bn debt.
Pantami has however called for a meeting on Monday with all stakeholders including the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, as well as the MNOs and financial institutions.
Adeluyi said the purpose of the meeting was to ensure an amicable resolution of the impasse.
“The outcome of the meeting will determine the next steps regarding the status of USSD financial services,” the statement said.
Adeluyi noted that the Minister had sent a letter on the matter to the CBN Governor on March 3rd, 2021.
