MTN Nigeria is confronting another "major" data depletion claim, one that has renewed questions about consumer rights, ethical data deductions, and unauthorised data billing. The matter is currently trending on X (formerly Twitter), sparking public outcry and drawing attention from millions of Nigerians.

A Nigerian lawyer and MTN Nigeria subscriber, Zaenab Olawunmi Adams, Esq, has challenged the unexplained depletion of 708.55GB from an 800GB annual data allocation in just 104 days, demanding that the operator produce detailed records explaining how the data was consumed.

In a formal complaint sent to MTN Customer Care on August 27, 2026, Zaenab, a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, stated that she subscribed to MTN's 800GB annual data plan for ₦125,000 on May 15, 2026. According to the complaint, her account showed a remaining balance of 91.45GB as of August 27 — meaning approximately 708.55GB had been depleted, or about 88.6% of the 800GB allocation, despite only three months and 12 days having elapsed since the subscription.

Zaenab argues that this rate of depletion is unusual and warrants an investigation into the accuracy and integrity of MTN's data-accounting system — the same backend framework the operator attempted to defend during its Data on Trial event in June.

In the late hours of Sunday, August 30, three days after Zaenab filed the complaint through her law firm, Losen Solicitors, MTN responded with a data usage report. While Zaenab said the company offered no explanation beyond the written records, she said in an X post that a representative of the telecoms operator had reached out to try to settle the matter via phone call.

However, the information contained in one of the more-than-100-page spreadsheets sent with the data usage report triggered further concerns.

Date, Hour, Time 0 hour, 21 hour, 22 hour, 23hour This isn't an explanatory report like I demanded but a muddled up report. My mail to you MTNNG was well detailed and explanatory that a secondary school student can easily read and understand. I believe I duly deserve the… pic.twitter.com/9U5ueKBD3e — Arike Sugar Sugar (@yettydlaw_) August 31, 2026

First, the spreadsheet does not present transactions in chronological order. Reading the spreadsheet from top to bottom, the balance appears to jump: 639.05 → 637.73 → 638.01 → 638.19 → 636.68 → 638.18… This looks strange because the timestamps themselves are out of order. For instance: 16:15 → 18:03 → 17:07 → 17:16 → 20:19 → 17:16 → 16:22… It raises questions about how MTN's data accounting system works, and why the supplied records show balances moving both upward and downward.

Secondly, if the report is chronological and balances increase between transactions, MTN would need to explain the source and nature of those credits, reversals, or adjustments, and provide a clear breakdown of where the data went.

Moreover, if MTN is sending a customer a report of more than 100 pages, the customer should reasonably be able to understand how the data was depleted, what it was used for, and how the calculations were made. Any attempt to present the data in a vague manner amounts to a means of confusing and frustrating the user from exercising their rights. The rigid, over-100-page document now requires Zaenab to engage the services of a data analyst to help interpret it.

Nigerian subscribers expect to get maximum utility from the mobile data bundles they purchase. When data runs out sooner than expected, they feel cheated. Yet a large percentage tend to let the matter go at the first occurrence. When they experience data depletion a second time, they tend to react and voice their complaints. The situation becomes serious when they realise other subscribers are going through the same thing.

The public outcry has become especially critical at a time when purchasing power is rapidly declining amid harsh economic conditions, and when the cost of data subscriptions has risen following the telecoms tariff review in January 2025. That review, approved by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the industry regulator, allowed operators including MTN to raise tariffs by up to 50% — the first such adjustment in over a decade — placing an even higher premium on whether every purchased gigabyte is accurately accounted for.

The Zaenab case is not the first

In an attempt to gather more reactions, a Google Form has been created to collect responses from MTN Nigeria subscribers who have, at one time or another, suffered data depletion or felt cheated. Relatedly: MTN Nigeria blames system glitch for inflated data usage report.

The case comes days after Bashir Ahmad, Special Assistant on Digital Communications to former President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari, claimed that an MTN Nigeria SMS data report said he used 58.83 GB via the cellular network on Tuesday, August 11. It appeared more suspicious when MTN's daily data report initially supplied an inflated accumulation of data consumption for Tuesday, August 11, to customers, before sending another report bearing the inscription "your corrected data usage for 11-08-2026…"

Days later, in its newsletter, the operator acknowledged that its daily data usage SMS report had experienced a temporary glitch during that week. The glitch caused the system to incorrectly display the figures by calculating data usage based on gigabytes (GB) instead of megabytes (MB).

However, the glitch and the clarifications raised more questions about the integrity of MTN's system. The company failed to clarify whether the glitch affected only the system that sends data reports via SMS, or also its backend system that calculates and deducts subscribers' data usage. Before the operator publicly acknowledged the glitch, MTN had sent a usage breakdown of the supposed "incorrect data calculation report" to the former Presidential aide.

During its Data on Trial event, MTN attempted to clarify what has changed in how data depletes compared to two years ago. Chief Executive Officer Karl Toriola explained that 4G/5G speeds, new smartphones, and their default high-definition settings can increase data consumption for images, audio, and video, all of which require more data. He added that continuous cloud and WhatsApp background backups are the main drivers behind rapid bundle depletion.

Meanwhile, the problem is not necessarily that Nigerians cannot afford data; they are demanding an explanation and accountability for a data depletion calculation they find strange. Beyond sending daily data usage reports or rolling out a data calculator, MTN needs to provide an honest and detailed explanation of how its data accounting works.

The issue is not whether faster networks, high-resolution content, or background processes can consume more data. The bigger question Nigerians are asking is whether the volume of data deducted from their bundles accurately corresponds to the traffic actually generated. For unresolved disputes such as this, subscribers retain the option of escalating complaints to the NCC, which operates consumer complaint channels for telecom services — a route that becomes more relevant when an operator's own usage records leave questions unanswered.

The operator's response to this growing concern should go beyond explaining how modern smartphones and high-speed internet consume more data. MTN should address the integrity and transparency of its data-depletion records. This is not an affordability conversation; it is a matter of trust and accountability in MTN's data calculation meter.

Source: TechNext24