Banks and telecommunications operators in Nigeria have ended a four-year dispute over nearly N300bn owed for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data services (USSD), with the debt now fully cleared, according to Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).

Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, announced the resolution on Thursday during an official visit to Idris Olorunnimbe, chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

He credited the intervention of the NCC, led by Dr Aminu Maida, executive vice chairman of the commission, with bringing the long-standing dispute to a close.

“When Dr Maida assumed office, he inherited significant industry challenges,” Adebayo said.

“One of the most difficult was the USSD debt crisis, a debt burden that grew over four years to nearly N300bn. It had become a systemic risk to our sector and the digital financial ecosystem.

Through firm leadership, structured engagement, and decisive coordination, Dr Maida and his team resolved this issue.

Today, there is no outstanding USSD debt. The ecosystem has fully migrated to end-user billing. What was once a looming crisis has been converted into a sustainable framework.”

The clearing of the debt ends years of accusations and counter-accusations between banks and telecom operators, which had threatened the stability of digital financial services in the country.

Adebayo praised the NCC’s leadership for steering the telecom sector through one of its most delicate periods, noting other interventions, including last year’s approval of a 50 per cent USSD tariff.

He described the resolution of the debt crisis as a milestone for the telecom and digital finance ecosystem, ensuring sustainability and predictability for operators and service providers.

Nigeria’s telco and bank billing for USSD services transitioned to the end-user billing model in mid-2025, moving charges from bank accounts to customers’ mobile airtime, which is deducted directly by telecom operators.

This shift resolved the long-standing dispute in which banks owed operators up to N300bn in unpaid USSD fees.

The transition arose from years of tension between telecom operators, including MTN and Airtel, and banks over USSD revenue sharing, with debts peaking at N250–300bn by 2024.

The NCC, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria, developed the EUB framework to standardise billing, enhance transparency, and support financial inclusion for unbanked users who rely heavily on USSD codes.

Under the EUB system, charges are now deducted directly from mobile airtime at N6.98 per session lasting up to 120 seconds, with user consent prompts issued before each deduction. Banks no longer bill for USSD services; telcos handle them exclusively, with regulatory safeguards preventing double-billing. Users can opt in or out of the service, and banks are required to notify customers in advance of any USSD session charges.

Migration to the EUB model began between June 3 and 18, 2025, following partial debt repayments amounting to N171bn. By February 19, 2026, banks had fully cleared the remaining debt, solidifying the EUB rollout.

The model improves user control through immediate airtime deductions and session notifications, similar to voice and SMS billing. While some critics have expressed concern over potential burdens on low-income users, the transition strengthens telecom revenue sustainability and contributes to the stability of Nigeria’s digital financial ecosystem.

Credit: Punch

National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has issued an urgent cybersecurity warning about a serious Microsoft Office vulnerability (CVE-2026-21509) that attackers are actively exploiting.

This advisory, shared through Nigeria’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERRT.NG), highlights the risks of this flaw and recommends immediate action to protect systems.

Microsoft has released quick security updates to fix this vulnerability, which has a severity score of 7.8, showing it is a serious risk. Attackers have already used it in targeted attacks.

CVE-2026-21509 affects multiple versions of Microsoft Office, including Office 2016, Office 2019, Microsoft 365 Apps, Office 2021, and later versions.

This flaw allows attackers to bypass security features meant to stop harmful Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) controls. OLE is an older Microsoft technology that can be used to embed links or content, but it has often been exploited by malware.

By exploiting this flaw, attackers can create specially designed Office documents.

When a user opens these documents, they can run malicious code or gain further access to the system.

Exploitation requires user interaction, meaning attackers often trick people into opening harmful Word, Excel, or other Office documents. Common methods include using email attachments or files from untrusted sources.

Because Microsoft confirmed that the vulnerability is being actively exploited, they have made emergency security updates available outside their usual schedule. Users and organisations should:

1. Install the latest Microsoft Office security updates for all affected versions.
2. Restart Office applications for Office 2021 and later to ensure that the updates take effect.
3. Use registry-based settings for protection if updates can’t be applied right away.
4. Follow good cybersecurity practices, like using endpoint protection and filtering emails.

Microsoft’s updates for Office 2021 and newer versions are automatically applied, but need a restart of the applications to be active.

African law enforcement agencies arrested 651 suspects and recovered over $4.3 million in a joint operation targeting investment fraud, mobile money scams, and fake loan applications.

As INTERPOL revealed on Wednesday, Operation Red Card 2.0 identified 1,247 victims between December 8 and January 30 while targeting cybercrime operations linked to over $45 million in financial losses.

Authorities across 16 countries also seized 2,341 devices and took down 1,442 malicious websites, domains, and servers during this joint action coordinated by the African Joint Operation against Cybercrime (AFJOC).

In Nigeria, police officers dismantled an investment fraud ring that was recruiting young people to run phishing, identity theft, and fake investment schemes, taking down over 1,000 fraudulent social media accounts in the process.

They also arrested six members of a Nigerian cybercrime gang that used stolen employee credentials to breach a major telecom provider.

Kenyan investigators also apprehended 27 suspects while investigating fraud networks that used social media and messaging platforms to lure victims into fake investment schemes.

In Côte d’Ivoire, 58 suspects were arrested as part of a crackdown on predatory mobile loan apps that targeted victims with hidden fees and abusive debt-collection practices.

“These organized cybercriminal syndicates inflict devastating financial and psychological harm on individuals, businesses and entire communities with their false promises,” said Neal Jetton, the head of INTERPOL’s Cybercrime Directorate.

“Operation Red Card highlights the importance of collaboration when combatting transnational cybercrime. I encourage all victims of cybercrime to reach out to law enforcement for help.”

One year ago, African law enforcement arrested another 306 suspects in the first stage of this INTERPOL-led operation targeting cross-border cybercriminal networks.

This is the latest INTERPOL operation targeting African cybercrime, with thousands of arrests and multiple multimillion-dollar operations disrupted or dismantled in recent years, following Operation Serengeti and Operation Africa Cyber Surge.