Telecom operators have taken the House of Representatives to the Federal High Court in Abuja over lawmakers’ powers to investigate poor network services and summon their chief executives.

The suit was filed on November 4, 2026 by the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, MTN Nigeria, Airtel Networks, Globacom and T2 Mobile.

The operators want the court to clarify Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, which cover legislative investigations and the power to summon witnesses.

The dispute is whether Parliament can directly probe private telecom companies over service quality or whether that work belongs to the Nigerian Communications Commission.

The face-off escalated after the House Ad Hoc Committee on Telecommunications Quality of Service invited telecom executives on October 21 to explain widespread service complaints.

After the executives were absent at an October 28 hearing, lawmakers issued fresh summonses requiring their personal appearance on November 4.

The committee also threatened arrest warrants if they failed to comply.

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The three largest cement manufacturers in Nigeria Dangote Cement Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc, and BUA Cement Plc have reported a combined N5.8 trillion revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2026.

The surge in the revenue is being driven by the increasing prices of cement selling N12,000 to N15,000 between July and September 2026 in Lagos and Ogun States, compared with around N10,000 sold in September 2025.

THISDAY reported that their unaudited result and accounts, the N5.8 trillion revenue is about 21 per cent increase over the N4.8 trillion revenue reported in nine months of 2025.

A breakdown revealed that Dangote Cement reported N3.8 trillion revenue during the period under review, about 19.6 per cent increase when compared to N3.15 trillion in 2025.

Dangote Cement’s production capacity increased by 9 per cent to 22.1million metric tonnes from 20.2 million tonnes in the corresponding period of 2025. It sold 14.1Mt, up by 6.4 per cent in the period under review. Its average selling price also rose by 9.4 per cent to N170,493 per tonne.

Exports of cement and clinker from Nigeria increased by 41.8 per cent to 1.5Mt, including 26 clinker shipments to Ghana, Cameroon and Ivory Coast. The company’s operations in other African countries sold 9.1Mt, up by 14 per cent. Senegal grew by 30%, Ethiopia by 19 per cent and Tanzania by nine per cent, and a new grinding plant in Ivory Coast sold 0.53Mt. Sales in Ghana and Cameroon were lower.

The first phase of the company’s 6Mt/yr plant at Itori in Ogun state is on track to be commissioned in 2027, part of a plan to increase capacity to 80Mt/yr from 55Mt/yr across Africa.

On its part, BUA Cement posted N1.09 trillion revenue, a growth of 26.5 per cent from N858.72 billion in 2025, while HBM Nigeria declared N928.25 billion revenue, representing an increase of nearly 19 per cent from N780.5 billion in 2025.