The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has vowed to strengthen transparency, consumer empowerment, and accountability as Nigeria’s telecom sector continues to expand at record pace.
Speaking at a stakeholder forum in Abuja on Monday, Executive Vice Chairman, Dr. Aminu Maida, highlighted the industry’s remarkable growth, with 171 million active telecom subscribers, 141 million internet users (81.9% penetration), and 105 million broadband subscriptions nationwide.
“These figures reflect our steady progress and the growing integration of digital services in everyday life,” he said.
Dr. Maida explained that the commission’s approach has shifted from mere enforcement to consumer-focused regulation, where operators are held accountable through public scorecards, real-time network maps, incident reporting portals, and quarterly service quality audits.
He assured Nigerians that ongoing quality-of-service concerns are being addressed as operators deploy newly delivered equipment, despite logistics hurdles.
On failed recharge and airtime transactions, Maida revealed that the NCC has teamed up with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to create a standardized dispute resolution framework, now under legal review.
Addressing the controversial issue of “fast-vanishing data”, he disclosed that independent audits by PwC and KPMG found no systemic data theft by operators. Instead, confusing tariff structures were identified as the major culprit. To fix this, the NCC has rolled out a tariff simplification guideline to give subscribers more clarity.
Meanwhile, the NCC’s Consumer Affairs Bureau Director, Mrs. Freda Bruce-Bennett, urged Nigerians to manage their data usage wisely by disabling auto-play videos, blocking intrusive ads, and shutting down background data on inactive apps.
Public Affairs Director, Mrs. Nnenna Ukoha, called on the media and stakeholders to partner with the NCC in building a more inclusive and digitally empowered Nigeria.
