NCC defends ₦472bn budget estimates as legislators laud positive strides in telecoms

*The National Assembly applauds ‘steady growth’ recorded in the telecoms sector, as the Nigerian Communications Commission assures the Federal lawmakers of commitment to improved regulatory compliance, consumer protection, and telecoms infrastructure in the country’s emerging digital

economyIsola Moses | ConsumerConnect The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has presented its proposal for ₦472 billion in total expenditure for 2026 in line with the 2026–2028 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) to the National Assembly (NASS), in Abuja, FCT.

Dr. Aminu Maida, Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of NCC, who made the presentation to the Federal lawmakers during a joint budget defence session of the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Communications Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Abuja, emphasised the significant contributions of the telecoms sector to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Maida highlights some NCC’s recent achievements

Maida, represented at the session in NASS by James Kalu, Head of Finance of the Commission, said the telecommunications sector recorded a growth rate of 5.17 percent 2025.

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He stated that the significant industry has continued to maintain its position as one of the most resilient contributors to GDP of the West African country.

The telecoms sector regulatory Commission as well attributed the sector’s performance to ongoing infrastructure expansion and consumers’ increasing demand for digital services in the entire digital ecosystem.

Maida further explained the NCC regulatory actions, and investments by telecoms operators culminated in the deployment and upgrade of about 2,800 telecoms sites nationwide in the past year.

According to the Commission, the considerable expansion of telecoms infrastructure helped to boost network capacity, and increase Broadband penetration by six percent to approximately 50 percent nationwide.

Dr. Maida told the lawmakers how the Commission reported improvements in Internet performance indicators.

He explained that average data speeds rose by about 24 percent—from roughly 16 megabits per second to around 20 megabits per second in the country’s cyberspace.

NASS acknowledges marked growth of telecoms sector Responding to the NCC’s budget defence session, the National Assembly applauded the steady growth of the telecommunications sector, just as the NCC proposed ₦472 billion budget for the 2026 fiscal year.

NASS tasks NCC, Telcos on improved QoS, consumer experience

The legislators also asked the Commission questions on bordering on Quality of Service (QoS), Consumers’ Quality of Experience (QoE), and the utilisation of previously approved funds for the NCC, among others.

Ikra Aliyu Bilbis, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Communications, and Akeem Adeniyi Adeyemi, Chairman of the House Committee on Communications, who jointly chaired the budget defence session, acknowledged the acknowledging the sector’s progress in Nigeria.

The Federal lawmakers, however, raised concerns about persistent service quality challenges in several parts of the country, including Abuja, in recent times.

They urged the NCC to strengthen regulatory oversight for the service providers, to ensure Nigerian telecoms consumers receive reliable and affordable services.

The legislators as well examined the Commission’s financial performance, highlighting discrepancies between approved budgets and actual spending in the last fiscal year.

The ₦95 billion approved for recurrent expenditure in 2025, about ₦73 billion was utilised, while only about ₦7 billion of the ₦10 billion allocated for capital projects was spent, the lawmakers noted.

Despite such observations, the joint NASS Committees on Communications lauded the telecoms industry regulator for its strong revenue contribution to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

According to NASS, although the Commission initially, projected about ₦30 billion in remittances to the Consolidated Revenue Fund 2025, the NCC eventually remitted ₦102 billion to the Federal Government.

Whereas for the 2026 fiscal year, the NCC has proposed ₦424 billion for recurrent expenditure and ₦15 billion for capital and special projects.

The Commission also projected that it would remit ₦207 billion to the Federal Government, and transfer ₦20 billion to the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) to support telecoms infrastructure expansion in rural and underserved communities in the country.

Clarifications on digital strategy policy, RoW and data depletion issues

The legislators, during the session, equally requested further clarifications on the Commission’s long-term digital strategy, including its 2036 roadmap, spectrum management plans, Right-of-Way framework, and data retention policies in the ecosystem.

The NCC assured the National Assembly of its commitment to strengthening regulatory compliance, enhancing consumer protection, and expanding telecoms infrastructure as part of broader digital transformation agenda for the emerging Nigeria Digital Economy.

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