Telecom
NCCT Urges NIPOST to Leverage PAV for Services
The National Council on Communication Technology (NCCT) urged the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) to leverage on existing Public Access Venues (PAV) infrastructure around the country to deploy its services.
This was part of communiqué issued at the end of the Third (3rd) meeting of Council held in Yenogoa, Bayelsa State recently under the Chairmanship of Dr. Omobola Johnson, minister of Communication Technology.
The Communique, thus urged NIPOST to use its post offices to deploy ICT services all across the country.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Communication Technology in implementing the National Broadband Plan at all tiers of government, has urged States in the country to sign up to the Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry for the implementation of the Smart State initiative already pioneered in 3 states namely Lagos, Cross River and FCT; and being tested in Anambra, Bayelsa, Ondo with others to follow.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek had reported that 34 States are yet to sign the agreement which will, among other things, lead to reduction in taxations and levies charged on telecom infrastructures at the States level.
The Ministry of Communication Technology and the Broadband Council chaired by Dr Omobola Johnson, is promoting a ‘’Smart State’’ initiative geared at engaging governors and relevant authorities at the state and federal level to address the issue of multiple taxation impeding the acceleration of the roll out of critical infrastructure across Nigeria.
The main aim of the Smart States initiative is to ensure that effective measures are adopted to remove arbitrary charges and eradicate multiple taxations across the nation impeding the roll out of critical ICT infrastructure across Nigeria.
In her keynote address at the NCCT Meeting, Dr Johnson commended Bayelsa State for Signing the Smart State MoU.
She indicated that the Ministry is currently collaborating with Bayelsa State in a number of areas and congratulated the Governor for pursuing a Digital Transformation Agenda in his State.
Johnson highlighted the top priority areas of the Ministry to include Connect Nigeria-which focuses on building ICT infrastructure, Connect Nigerians, ICT in government and Local Content.
She disclosed that the Ministry of Communication Technology has made progress in its priority areas resulting in improvements in a number of indicators including teledensity, active subscription, number of internet users, and internet penetration. She also noted that steady progress was being made in software industry development and ICT in government.
She assured that the Ministry of Communication Technology would provide the necessary leadership and rallying point for ensuring that the potential of the Nigerian ICT sector is fully harvested for the attainment of inclusive and sustainable development.
The Council deliberated exhaustively on the 73-page report presented by the meeting of officials and other items of the Agenda and agreed on major decisions and recommendations highlighted in the Communiqué.
The NCCT urged States and Local governments in the country to make policy changes in the areas of investing in infrastructure security and development, active collaboration in negotiating Federal, State and local government jurisdiction issues as it affects ICT.
The changes should also incorporate the establishing or strengthening where they exist Ministries, agencies or authorities to build capability to coordinate ICT that will pay due attention to ICT investment and funding as well as coordinated ICT development in States.
The Communiqué also urged Members to sensitize their Chief Executives and mobilize support for implementation of the National Addressing policy to be piloted in the six geopolitical zones with Ekiti, Nasarawa, Benue, Bayelsa, Osun, Plateau, Gombe and Anambra states as volunteers.
All states in the country were also urged to participate actively in the effort to finalise the national e-government framework.
The NCCT Meeting which considered 49 substantive memoranda in addition to a number of information memos also called on all tiers of government in Nigeria to consider the adoption of the Open Data policy as a means of creating jobs.
They also highlighted need to make data available for policy formulation and decision making as well as reducing the cost of governance and improving public service delivery and a call for the Federal Government to develop and implement a National Data security policy that would be entrenched in all tiers of government and other sectors.
Other recommendations contained in the Communiqué include a call for the institutionalization of equal participation for women and girls in ICT as a matter of priority for national development and the adoption and replication of the Ministry’s Digital Girls curriculum in State secondary schools across the nation.
The Communiqué also urged members of the Council to bring the contents of the Guidelines for Nigerian Local Content in ICT to the attention of state MDAs, ICT companies and the public in general. Other recommendations in the Communiqué include the call for the Federal Ministry of Communication Technology to approach the National Bureau of Statistics NBS with a view to mainstreaming relevant ICT indicators into their data collection instruments as a complementary means of mitigating the present paucity of ICT data.
Furthermore, they called for Galaxy Backbone Limited partnership with the state governments to extend the data security facilities in the states from the existing infrastructure to fully optimize the value of the initial investment on the facilities.
To further promote the Digital Jobs initiative of the Federal Ministry of Communication Technology, the Communiqué urged each State to provide a suitable venue with 250 sitting capacity and nominate 800 unemployed youths for the workshop for training of prospective job seekers on digital job opportunities.
States and local governments were also urged to support NigComSat as it negotiates with them on the acquisition of sites for the deployment of infrastructure to facilitate the affordability of its services.
In order to put a sustainable mechanism for addressing the problem of Cyber security in the country, Council also called on NITDA to actively work towards the development of National Cyber security Strategy without prejudice to ongoing efforts of the Office of the National Security Adviser.
Companies and entities at both the State and Federal levels were also urged by the Communiqué to have .ng domain names and to establish web presence.
The NCCT Council commended Dr Johnson for her commitment and hard work in moving the ICT sector forward in her three years in office as the Honourable Minister and noted and appreciated the efforts of many states that made presentations and shared their experiences on how they are using ICT applications for improved service delivery and greater efficiency.
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that Nigeria’s internet usage reached a record 1.24 million terabytes in November 2025.
According to the latest data from the NCC, the figure rose modestly from 1.235 million terabytes in October, reflecting steady growth in digital activity across the country.
Broadband penetration in Nigeria crossed the halfway mark in November 2025, reaching 50.58 per cent, up from 45.61 per cent in January, the telecoms regulator reported.
The figure, however, falls short of the 70 per cent coverage target outlined in the National Broadband Plan 2020–2025, which expires this month.
The country had roughly 109 million broadband subscriptions by November. Growth has been uneven, hindered by infrastructure and regulatory constraints, including frequent fibre-optic vandalism that triggers 30 to 43 network cuts daily, high right-of-way fees, and declining subscriber numbers earlier in the year.
Expansion of mobile networks, particularly 3G and 4G services, alongside limited 5G rollouts in urban centres, affordable smartphones, and competitive data plans, has driven uptake.
Investments in the National Communications Backbone and private-sector initiatives have also improved access, especially in underserved areas.
While Nigeria is gradually improving digital inclusion, achieving the original broadband plan remains challenging due to high infrastructure costs, coverage limitations, and deployment hurdles.
The NCC maintains that continued investment in mobile networks and broadband infrastructure will sustain gradual growth in the sector.
Commenting on the development, some Nigerian analysts attributed the surge to the broader mobile and broadband adoption and the growing appetite for streaming, online learning and other digital services.
According to the analysts, the figures suggest that internet connectivity is no longer a luxury but a necessity for both business and leisure, underscoring the slow but steady expansion of Nigeria’s digital economy.
Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) has named the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) among the top three Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government with the Best Ranking in Website Performance for 2025.
L-R: Head Special Projects, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Salamatu Andu; Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Engr. Abaraham Oshadame; Director General Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Head Customer Support Service, Galaxy Backbone, Rosemary Ehize; Secretary to the ES. Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Tahir Aminu at the BPSR award ceremony for top four MDAs in BPSR Website Performance and Ranking 2025 at the BPSR office on Tuesday, 23rd December, 2025.
This is coming barely three weeks after the telecom regulator was recognized as one of the top five best-performing Federal Government agencies for 2025 by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) – a testament to the Commission’s consistency in investment in technology for ensuring efficient service delivery.
In the BPSR 2024/2025 scorecard ranking of agencies’ websites, the NCC came second in the ranking, trailing behind Galaxy Backbone Limited, which came first while the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) clinched the third position, from a pool of 235 MDAs, whose website were evaluated.
BPSR deployed 14 evaluation criteria in include MDA’s website compliance with .gov.ng domain name, appearance and aesthetics (look and feel) of the website, content, relevance to MDAs mandate/government policy and the website’ structure.
Others include website’s responsiveness (device compatibility), security, load time, usability/ease of navigation, availability/uptime, functionality, interactivity, accessibility and capacity building.
The recognition was announced at the official release of Federal Government 2024/2025 Scorecard Ranking for MDAs’ Website held at the Federal Ministry of Finance Auditorium in Abuja on Monday (December 22, 2025) while the award presentation took place at BPSR’s Office on Tuesday (December 23, 2025).
The award, which is an important index metric of the National e-Government Masterplan for determining the Nigeria e-Government Status, was received by the Commission in recognition of its commitment to maintaining a world-class website that enhances service delivery to the citizens.
Receiving the award on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, the NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Abraham Oshadami, appreciated the BPSR for the recognition, describing the award as “another encouragement for the Commission to be a better public service institution leveraging digital platforms such as our web presence to enhance public service delivery to our various stakeholders, thereby implementing the Federal Government’s Ease of Doing Business policy direction.”
While presenting the award to the NCC, alongside other two agencies, BPSR’s Director-General, Mr. Dasuki Arabi, commended the top three for their proactive decisions in maintaining world-class websites, which are compliant with the Federal Government’s policy direction in effective and efficient service delivery to the citizens.
According to the DG, the 2024/2025 MDA’s websites’ ranking represents a collective effort of federal public institutions in Nigeria to be transparent, accountable and open in governance, as well as a confirmation to align with global best practices in service delivery to the citizens.
Developed about six years ago, Arabi said as a result of the annual ranking, more public institutions have indicated readiness to embrace reforms, and align with the policy direction of the current administration’s Renewed Hope agenda on improve governance for effective service delivery, as introduced by His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“The ideals of harnessing and deploying technological tools for service delivery has become imperative following the COVID pandemic, and distortions of socio-economic system of nations, culminating in the evolution of competitiveness, cost effectiveness, and agile governance.
“As engine room of governance, it behoves on us in the public service to perform our statutory duties and we must put in place technological innovations and standardized websites to operate services as well as deliver service needs to citizens,” he said.
The Scorecard exercise, he said, is part of the BPSR reform broader function of conducting research on reform implementation efforts and presenting ‘best practice’ models to the entire Public Service, and to among others, improve access to government information, facilitate seamless financial transaction, eliminate corruption and cyber theft, as well as facilitate access to government services.
Speaking on the rigorous nature of the exercise that produced the top three winners, the DG said “in the past few weeks members of the Scorecard Jury drawn from inter-Ministerial Agencies, had worked tirelessly to mill websites of selected MDAs through a rigorous process of enduring criteria for the ranking and the outcome had also passed through a quality assurance mechanism to validate the outcome.”
Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, has dismissed reports that bank accounts not linked to a Tax Identification Number (TIN) will be frozen or automatically debited from January 1, 2026.
Taiwo Oyedele
Oyedele described the claims as false and misleading, warning Nigerians against panic over misinformation surrounding recent tax and financial reforms.
In a post on his X handle Tuesday morning, he wrote: “Don’t let anyone manipulate you. Your bank account is safe. Misinformation makes you panic and fear a reform that is designed to help you.
“When they tell you that your account will be frozen or automatically debited from January 2026, ask them for the evidence in the new law. Be wise.”
He stressed that no provision in the new tax laws authorises the freezing of bank accounts, adding that the rumours are part of widespread misrepresentation of the reforms.
The committee chairman reiterated that the reforms are intended to simplify Nigeria’s tax system and ease the burden on ordinary citizens, not to impose punitive measures on bank customers.
How Moniepoint’s Founders, Tosin Eniolorunda and Felix Ike are Redefining African Tech and Finance
Ecobank Guarantees Seamless Digital Banking Services Throughout the Christmas and Year-End Period
Banks quietly move to enforce new ₦50 transfer levy from Jan. 1
Nigeria’s Internet Usage Hits 1.24m Terabytes – NCC
World Bank Reveals Obstacles to Growth of Mobile Money Accounts in Sub-Saharan Africa
Nigeria Records Highest Weekly Cyberattacks in Africa — Report
Cyber Tsunami Hits Nigeria as Breaches Surge 1,047%, esentry Q3 Report Reveals
Minister Claims Bandits Exploit Poor Network, Bounce Calls Off Multiple Towers
Financial Sector Faced AI, Blockchain and Organised Crime Threats in 2025 – Report
GenAI Adoption Among African workers Outpace Global Peers
E-Financial1 day agoBanks quietly move to enforce new ₦50 transfer levy from Jan. 1
Telecom2 days agoNigeria’s Internet Usage Hits 1.24m Terabytes – NCC
General News1 day agoEcobank Guarantees Seamless Digital Banking Services Throughout the Christmas and Year-End Period
News23 hours agoHow Moniepoint’s Founders, Tosin Eniolorunda and Felix Ike are Redefining African Tech and Finance