President Bola Tinubu has approved the complete removal of the 5% excise duty on telecommunications services as part of the new tax reform laws, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has confirmed.
Executive Vice-Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, disclosed this during an interactive session with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday. He explained that the levy, first introduced in 2022 under former President Muhammadu Buhari, had faced widespread criticism before being suspended in 2023.
“The excise duty is no longer there,” Maida said. “Before, it was suspended, but now the president has removed it entirely. I was in the room when it was raised, and he said, No, no, no, we cannot put this on Nigerians. When the bills came out, I was very pleased to see that his words were followed through.”
The levy was part of a broader tax reform framework, but public backlash over its potential impact on consumers and the economy led to its suspension and now its complete removal.
Supporting Growth and Digital Inclusion
With Nigeria’s telecom sector at the heart of economic activity and digital innovation, Maida said scrapping the duty would ease cost pressures on subscribers and encourage industry growth.
He emphasized that the NCC is now pursuing reforms anchored on transparency, accountability, and consumer protection. These include a public network performance map to be unveiled in September, which will provide independent data on internet speeds, latency, and quality of service across networks.
“There will also be a quarterly performance report based on user data,” Maida noted. “This accountability extends beyond mobile operators to infrastructure providers who are critical to reliability.”
Policy Shift for a New Era
Reflecting on the telecom policy of 2000, which broke the monopoly and introduced competition, Maida said it had served its purpose but must now evolve to address internet-driven technologies such as artificial intelligence, IoT, and augmented reality.
“In the early 2000s, it was about voice and text. Today, it is about connectivity and emerging technologies. The policy did not fail, but we must adapt to new realities,” he said.
He added that competition remains a key driver of affordability, noting that despite recent tariff adjustments, call rates today average around ₦18–₦19 per minute, compared to ₦50 per minute in the early 2000s.
Addressing Consumer Concerns
On consumer complaints about failed electronic recharges and fast data depletion, Maida said a joint NCC-CBN task force had developed a new framework to standardize recharge processes.
He revealed that Tier-1 audit firms were engaged to investigate billing systems and found no evidence of systemic manipulation. Instead, factors such as background app activity, device settings, and complex tariff structures were identified as major contributors to consumer dissatisfaction.
“We are not here to punish operators,” he stressed. “Our focus is on ensuring consumers are happier, operators perform better, and the government benefits from a stronger tax base.”
NCC’s Director of Consumer Affairs, Freda Bruce-Bennett, also offered practical tips for subscribers to manage data more efficiently, such as disabling video autoplay on social media, deleting unused apps, and activating data-saving modes.
Nigeria currently has 172 million active subscribers, including 141 million internet users and 105 million broadband users, according to NCC data.
Director of Public Affairs, Nnenna Ukoha, highlighted the importance of media collaboration in communicating regulatory initiatives, urging journalists to work closely with the commission to educate the public.
