Firdaus Obiremi
The Association of Mobile Phones and Allied Products Traders Association of Nigeria (AMPAT) has called on the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to suspend registration fees and enforcement measures on mobile phone dealers for 120 days to allow stakeholders to address concerns surrounding the new policy.
The association, while expressing support for the NCC’s initiative to register and authenticate SIM-enabled mobile devices, said the implementation should be suspended temporarily to enable traders to understand the requirements and resolve issues associated with the process.
The National Chairman of AMPAT’s Board of Trustees, Alhaji Sani Tasi’u-Ibrahim, made the appeal during a press conference in Kano on Saturday.
The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the NCC had given mobile phone dealers an ultimatum to register and authenticate devices in their inventories as part of efforts to identify illegally imported and non-compliant phones.
Tasi’u-Ibrahim said the association was not opposed to the policy, noting that measures to combat phone theft and the circulation of illicit devices were necessary. However, he argued that the implementation should not impose undue financial burdens on legitimate traders.
“Let me first say this clearly, so that nobody misquotes us. We want stolen phones to become useless. We want criminals to have nowhere to hide.
“We are not asking the government to abandon this policy,” he said.
He urged the commission to grant the association a 120-day grace period, suspend the registration fees and halt device-blocking measures and threatening messages to dealers while consultations continued.
“We are asking for five things: give us 120 days, stop the fees, stop the blockage, stop the threatening messages for 120 days while we sit down and sort this out together,” he added.
The association’s chairman stressed the need for the NCC to engage traders and other industry stakeholders before fully enforcing the policy, arguing that consultation would help address implementation challenges and prevent unintended consequences for legitimate businesses.
He expressed concern over the reported charges for registering individual devices, saying the costs could place considerable pressure on traders who import and sell phones in large quantities.
“About N670 for a small phone, and close to N4,000 for a big one, think about this,” he said.
Tasi’u-Ibrahim noted that the mobile phone trade contributed significantly to government revenue through customs duties, taxes and other business transactions.
He also highlighted the sector’s role in employment generation, saying millions of Nigerians depended on the industry for their livelihoods.
According to him, the sector supports a broad network of workers, including sales assistants, technicians, phone repairers, dealers and transport operators.
He warned that an inadequately implemented registration policy could undermine legitimate businesses and threaten jobs across the mobile phone distribution and repair value chain.
The association, he said, had taken steps to present its concerns through lawful channels, including writing to the NCC, the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Kano State Governor.
He urged the relevant authorities to consider the traders’ concerns and work with them towards a framework that would achieve the commission’s regulatory objectives without disrupting legitimate commercial activities.
“A policy that is meant to fight fake phones should not destroy the people who sell genuine ones; that is all we are saying,” he said.
