The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has raised the alarm that the country’s digital transformation agenda is under threat due to persistent legal and regulatory ambiguities.
The warning came from the executive vice chairman of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, during the opening session of the Commission’s 1st Annual Workshop for State Attorneys-General in Lagos.
The high-level engagement brought together Attorneys-General from across the federation to deliberate on the theme: “Building and Driving Synergy in Regulating Communications for the Digital Transformation of Nigeria.”
Maida said the time had come for deeper collaboration between legal institutions and regulators to secure the country’s digital future.
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“The communications sector cannot be effectively regulated in isolation. Legal clarity is not optional, it is foundational. Without it, we risk confusion, investor hesitation, stalled infrastructure rollout, and consumer vulnerability,” Maida cautioned in his remarks.
According to the EVC, the communications sector remains one of the most dynamic and critical drivers of Nigeria’s economy, with over 220 million active voice subscriptions and broadband penetration crossing 52 percent as of Q1 2025. Yet, this progress, he warned, could be derailed by challenges including fragmented regulatory oversight, inconsistent state-level policies, and multiple taxation.
The Communications Act, while groundbreaking at the time, is in urgent need of review to reflect the realities of artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and modern digital finance.
“We must rethink and reform our legal framework to ensure it is fit for purpose in this rapidly evolving digital landscape,” he said.
The NCC boss also decried the issue of multiple and inconsistent taxes on telecom operators by federal, state, and local authorities, calling it a major disincentive to investment and infrastructure expansion. He cited the need for harmonization and legal clarity to eliminate conflicting demands on service providers.
“Streamlining the tax regime and ensuring regulatory coherence across levels of government will not only encourage investment but also accelerate digital inclusion, especially in underserved areas,” he added.
Another key issue raised by Maida was the implementation of the 2024 Executive Order signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which designated telecom infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII).
Maida urged State Attorneys-General to work closely with the Office of the National Security Adviser and relevant stakeholders to operationalize the order and strengthen protection for digital assets.
He emphasized that the destruction of telecom infrastructure, often through vandalism, theft, or sabotage, represents a national security threat and a barrier to digital development.
“A Whole-of-Government approach is the only way forward. Attorneys-General are not only legal advisers but also strategic enablers of digital transformation,” Maida noted.
In his keynote address, the attorney-general of the federation (AGF) and minister of justice, Chief Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, echoed similar concerns, stating that the legal system must evolve to match the complexity of Nigeria’s fast-growing digital ecosystem.
Fagbemi praised the NCC for convening the workshop and called for joint legal reform, policy harmonization, and stronger enforcement mechanisms.
He cited specific incidents that highlight the systemic problems in the sector, including the 2024 multiple taxation incident in Ogun state, which forced the suspension of expansion projects due to overlapping local levies, and the 2023 vandalisation of base stations in Kano state that disrupted critical services.
“These incidents constitute economic sabotage. We must ensure the rule of law is upheld to prevent the exploitation of consumer rights and to protect national assets,” Fagbemi warned.
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He advocated for the adoption of a *Federal-State Regulatory Coordination Forum, a uniform Right of Way (RoW) policy and joint enforcement measures as part of a broader legal and governance framework to support digital growth.
Fagbemi also charged his fellow Attorneys-General to play a more active role in data privacy, cybersecurity, and digital rights protection at the state level, stating that law officers must now also be stewards of Nigeria’s digital economy.
Throughout the two-day workshop, participants are expected to examine key issues such as legal reform of the NCC Act, elimination of regulatory overlaps, streamlining telecom taxation, and strengthening the judiciary’s role in prosecuting offences that threaten digital infrastructure.
Fagbemi pledged to institutionalize the workshop as an annual platform for cross-sectoral legal engagement, knowledge exchange, and joint problem-solving.
“Without legal clarity, Nigeria’s dream of becoming a truly digital economy will remain elusive. Stakeholders must align law, policy, and regulation to ensure sustainable digital progress,” Fagbemi affirmed.
