NCC Seeks Stakeholders’ Inputs on National Telecoms Policy Review

Emma Okonji

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has called on interested industry stakeholders to make written submissions to the commission on the ongoing review of National Telecommunications Policy (NTP) 2000.

NCC said the consultation paper had been published on the commission’s website. It set Friday, March 20, 2026, as the deadline for all submissions.

The consultation process, in exercise of the commission’s functions under the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003, and upon the activation of the provisions of Section 24 (1) of the Act on conducting consultative processes for the review of policies, is the first step in the public consultation process to guide the review of the subsisting NTP 2000.

The review of NTP followed the inauguration of a Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) and a Ministerial Technical Committee (MTC) by Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, to commence the process of reviewing NTP 2000.

The policy review will also align with the minister’s Strategic Blueprint – Accelerating Our Collective Prosperity through Technical Efficiency – which states that the ministry will drive the review of Telecoms Policy to account for core issues, such as spectrum management, universal access, broadband penetration, net neutrality, and quality of service (QoS).

The consultation process and its outcome will support the work of MSC and Implementation Committee (IC) in coming up with a reviewed policy that will meet the current challenges of the communications sector and keep up with the rapid and dynamic changes since the current NTP was issued 25 years ago.

Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, said, in the published consultation paper, that the process will lead to the development of the first draft of NTP 2026 to replace the existing NTP 2000, following 25 years of implementation.

The draft will also undergo further consultations to enable stakeholders to make more input before a final draft is subjected to the statutory policy approval and validation processes.

Maida said, “The NTP 2000 has been instrumental to advancing Nigeria’s telecom sector from where it was 25 years ago – from a mere 500,000 lines to almost 180 million active mobile connections as of December 2026.  One of the gaps that the revised policy seeks to address is the increased demand for data services and its externalities.

“This is a first step in the consultation process and there will be other layers of engagements, to ensure that the final draft accommodates varied expertise, feedback and inputs from a cross section of stakeholders.”

Maida implored stakeholders to take the opportunity to participate in developing the policy that will take the communications sector to the next level after the immeasurable successes attained since 2000.

NTP 2000 marked a major progression from older policies, aiming for liberalisation, modernisation, and competition under the then nascent democratic government. NTP replaced the 1998 Policy and successfully paved the way for the growth of mobile telephony and the eventual NCA 2003 by focusing on market deregulation and stakeholder consultation.