Telecom
NCC Looks Elsewhere as Sale of Preregistered Sim Cards Booms
The over N6.1 billion poured into the ongoing Sim card registration is going down the drains with fresh evidences suggesting ready availability of preregistered Sim cards at every nooks and corners of the country Nigeria CommunicationsWeek investigations have found.
Preregistered Sim cards are those in which the biometric identity of a different person is used to register the number of Sim cards, and then sold to different people such that identity of the user is not same with the one who registered the Sim.
The implication is that armed robbers; kidnappers and other criminals can buy these cards and hide under the anonymity they provide to perpetuate heinous crimes.
Checks around the country revealed that the trade is booming with a preregistered Sim card selling for as much as N1, 500. A fresh Sim card from any GSM operator cost just N200.
Even with the best efforts of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the trade is assuming the nature of organized crime with a chain that extends as far as the major dealers who purchase Sim cards in bulk to the hawkers on the streets and to gang kingpins.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that the federal government had embarked on the Sim card registration because of the increasing wave of crimes assisted by telecommunications as criminals hide under the anonymity of telephone access to commit crimes such as kidnapping and robbery.
The rationale is that if the owner of each SIM card in the country is known, it would be easy to trace any crime committed with the aid of a phone to a person.
Further checks showed that some unsuspecting poor Nigerians were being used to register such Sim cards in large quantities.
The government voted a questionable N6.1 billion for the registration even when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) undertook similar registration of all bank account holders in Nigeria without any special budget.
But there are series of scandals surrounding the handling of the money meant for the exercise which the NCC is fighting to absolve itself of any wrongdoing.
Critics said that whatever the benefit of preregistration is, that the government lack capacity to take advantage of it or to protect the citizens.
They said that the Sim registration process is too disorganized to make any meaningful impact and blamed the government for not doing enough to educate Nigerians on the dangers of preregistered Sim cards.
Bola Olubodun, a security expert , said, that process have been compromised because vital information of some Nigerian subscribers are now available to fraudsters and crooks of all kinds.
Tony Ojobo, director, Public Affairs at NCC, however, told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek that the process is achieving its objectives.
He said that the constitutional way of fighting illegality is through the use of law enforcement agencies which the commission has been using.
According to him, some vendors of preregistered Sim cards have been arrested and enjoined Nigerians to report to the Nigerian Police any vendor of preregistered Sim card.
Deolu Ogunbanjo, president, National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMs) however urged Nigerians to trust the system.
“ The law states that you have to register your Sim card, anybody going outside that is going contrary to the dictates of the law and should be made to face the wrath of the law” he added.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek recalled that the Sim card registration exercise begun in February 2011 when the Nigerian Communications Commission signed contract with seven registration service providers to handle the registration process in different parts of the country along with telecommunications operators.
The contractors included SW Global for the South-East region — Anambra, Enugu, Abia, Ebonyi, and Imo; PNN for the North-Central region — Abuja, Plateau, Benue, Niger, Kogi, Kwara and Nassarawa; Chams for Lagos; and JKK for the South-West region – Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ekiti and Ondo.
Others were DATAGROUPIT for the North-East region — Yobe, Borno, Gombe, Bauchi, Adamawa and Taraba; EAGLE/CBC for the North West region — Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Kano and Jigawa; and E-Kenneth/SageMetrics for the South-South — Cross River, Delta, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Bayelsa.
Since March 28, 2011 that the Sim card registration actually began, many issues had been thrown up.
But desperate to justify the process, Ojobo, who was a guest at a television programme in Lagos, said that the verification process had commenced and would be preceded by number portability, which is designed to empower GSM subscribers to switch to a different network provider while still maintaining the same phone number.
He said that the Sim registration exercise is taking time to close because “After the digital collection of the database, the process of harmonising and cleansing was begun. The numbers of SIM card that were initially collected was 100 million, at a time when the active subscription was about 97million.
“Because of this volume, caused by multiple cases of double registration, the operators found the process of collation tough, and it took a long while for them to upload the information to NCC backings. When this was done, we also discovered mismatching, and the process continued” he added.
Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) hosted its annual Made of Africa (MOA) 2025 Awards on Monday, February 4, 2026. The event, held during the NGX year-end celebrations, brought together regulators, listed companies, and market operators such as MTN, BUA, Dangote, Transcorp, to celebrate achievements in compliance, sustainability, and market performance.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Umaru Kwairanga, the Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Limited, said “Excellence in compliance, sustainability, and several other categories recognises the fact that capital market operators and quoted companies must be standards not only in terms of the size of their operations but also adherence to regulations and best practices of corporate social responsibilities.”
He emphasised that the awards serve as a benchmark for excellence. He noted that the 2025 honourees demonstrated significant improvements in branding, customer service, and operational standards despite a challenging economic environment in Nigeria.
Among the evening’s significant winners was MTN Nigeria, which was honoured for its commitment to corporate transparency. The technology giant received the award for Leadership in Sustainability Reporting, emerging as the winner in a category that included Seplat Energy, BUA Cement, and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria PLC.
The award recognised the brand’s adherence to both national and global reporting standards, reflecting its role in advancing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices within the Nigerian corporate space.
Tobe Okigbo, Chief Corporate Services & Sustainability Officer, MTN Nigeria, said “This recognition for Leadership in Sustainability Reporting underscores our commitment to transparency and aligning with global best practices.
“As the capital market moves toward greater accountability, MTN Nigeria remains dedicated to demonstrating resilience and faith in the Nigerian economy through comprehensive and standard-compliant reporting.”
The ceremony saw several other major players in the financial sector secure multiple accolades. Chapel Hill Denham emerged as one of the night’s most successful firms, winning in categories including Fund Manager with the Largest Listed Fund Size and Market Operator with the Highest Value of Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) Transactions.
Other notable winners included: Cardinal Stone Securities Limited, named Broker of the Year and Equity Trader of the Year, Dangote Cement was awarded Best Issuer in terms of Fixed Income Listings, BUA Cement PLC was recognised as the Most Compliant Listed Company, and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) PLC received special recognition for Capital Market Excellence in Equity.
Mr. Jude Chiemeka, the Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Exchange Limited, congratulated the recipients, noting that the market saw a 51% close in the All-Share Index last year, making it the second-best performing market globally. He urged winners and nominees alike to continue striving for excellence to further the aspiration of a $1 trillion Nigerian economy.
Nigeria’s broadband landscape remains anchored by 4G LTE at 52.95% market share in December 2025, with 2G holding steady at 37.37%, while 5G penetration crawls at just 3.77%, per Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) data.
4G’s dominance stems from urban smartphone migrations and MTN-Airtel infrastructure expansions, fuelling the digital economy, as 2G persists in rural areas due to feature phone reliance and a stubborn device gap.
5G growth stalls from high smartphone costs amid inflation, telco preference for 4G’s quicker returns over capital-heavy 5G rollouts, and limited mainstream apps beyond elite urban streaming in Lagos and Abuja.
Broadband subscriptions topped 112 million, lifting penetration to 51.97%—up from 42.2% in October 2024—crossing the halfway mark for the first time, though monthly gains of 2-3 million slowed mid-year amid population growth and regional disparities.
The NCC’s 70% target stays elusive, highlighting sustained urban-rural demand but underscoring needs for affordable devices, infrastructure, and use cases to accelerate high-speed access nationwide.
Nigeria’s internet subscriber base surged to 148.2 million by December 2025, achieving 68.3% penetration, even amid 50% tariff hikes and naira depreciation, according to Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) data.
MTN and Airtel dominated with 86% market share, Airtel adding 1 million subscribers in December alone, while Glo and 9mobile lagged as legacy players.
Data consumption exploded 35% to 13.25 million terabytes yearly, but Nigerians spent ₦20.87 billion daily—totalling ₦7.62 trillion ($5.58 billion)—as gigabyte prices doubled from ₦287 to ₦575.
User frustrations mounted from network failures, thousands of fibre cuts due to construction and vandalism between January and August 2025, and poor service quality despite billions in revenue. 4G LTE held 52.95% share as the workhorse, 2G clung to 37.37% in rural areas, and 5G remained a 3.77% urban luxury limited by device costs and base stations.
The NCC’s 70% broadband target fell short at 51.97%, though the ICT sector boosted Q3 GDP by ₦7.47 trillion and restored telco profits post-2024 losses.
In 2026, attention shifts to quality matching rising costs, with users urged to stay powered amid persistent “spinning wheel” woes.
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