Keypoints
- Presidential Adviser Hadiza Usman stated that Nigeria cannot build a competitive digital economy using obsolete telecommunications frameworks.
- The NCC convened a national workshop in Lagos on Wednesday to overhaul the 2000 National Telecommunications Policy.
- Officials noted that the sector has transitioned from basic voice connectivity into an all-encompassing digital productivity ecosystem.
- Persistent structural bottlenecks like fiber cuts, multiple taxation, and right-of-way delays continue to stall infrastructure expansion.
- The upcoming 2026 policy framework will establish strict execution timelines, performance indicators, and institutional accountabilities.
Main Story
Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination Hadiza Usman has asserted that Nigeria cannot build a competitive digital economy with outdated telecommunications policies and weak implementation systems.
Speaking at a national review workshop in Lagos, Usman argued that the existing statutory roadmap from the year 2000 has failed to keep pace with contemporary economic realities, security challenges, and technological advancements.
She emphasized that unclear and fragmented regulatory frameworks discourage vital private investment, spark costly institutional overlaps, and dilute overall national growth targets.
Executive Vice-Chairman of the NCC Aminu Maida also indicated that the telecommunications sector has completely outgrown its original foundational assumptions of mere market liberalization and basic voice access.
Maida maintained that modern connectivity has mutated into an essential cross-cutting platform that powers financial technology, health systems, and national security coordination.
To rectify long-standing operational gaps, Usman announced that the incoming revised policy will transition from a passive administrative document into a practical, working instrument designed to accelerate broadband penetration, resolve right-of-way bottlenecks, and enforce strict execution accountability.
The Issues
- Obsolete regulatory frameworks lack the structural provisions required to manage modern technological shifts like 5G, artificial intelligence, and cloud infrastructure.
- Fragmented state-level actions, multiple taxation, and delayed permit approvals continually stifle the deployment of critical national broadband networks.
- Poorly defined implementation structures and a lack of baseline review mechanisms frequently cause ambitious public policies to stall post-formulation.
What’s Being Said
- Special Adviser Hadiza Usman stated that “a policy that was fit for purpose in the year 2000 cannot simply be assumed to remain adequate in 2026.”
- She noted that “when policy lacks clarity, implementation becomes inconsistent, responsibilities overlap, resources are poorly targeted, and public institutions struggle to achieve measurable development outcomes.”
- “The revised framework must clearly define implementation timelines, institutional responsibilities, measurable targets, reporting mechanisms, and performance indicators to improve accountability,” Usman stressed regarding administrative monitoring.
- NCC Executive Vice-Chairman Aminu Maida stated that the industry has “evolved from basic connectivity into a major digital ecosystem supporting banking, commerce, education, entertainment, cloud services, digital identity, and government operations.”
- “This is no longer a narrow telecommunications conversation. It is no longer just one sector within the economy; it is a productivity infrastructure for the entire economy,” Maida declared during the regulatory overview.
What’s Next
- Stakeholders at the NCC workshop will compile a definitive list of policy recommendations to draft the new National Telecommunications Policy 2026.
- The federal government will introduce a standardized Public Policy Development and Management Framework to govern future inter-agency project evaluations.
- Regulators will collaborate with state and local authorities to establish unified security measures protecting fiber optic lines and rural utility stations as critical national infrastructure.
Bottom Line
Insisting that a 26-year-old regulatory framework cannot sustain modern digital commerce, the Presidency and the NCC have initiated an emergency overhaul of Nigeria’s national telecommunications policy, aiming to clear structural investment bottlenecks while establishing strict performance tracking for the 2026 fiscal cycle.
