In a decisive move to curb the perennial issue of poor telecommunications service in Nigeria, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, has issued a 90-day ultimatum to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to implement a framework for automatic penalties against mobile network operators (MNOs).
The directive, contained in a policy letter dated January 8, 2026, and gaining significant momentum this week, signals a fundamental shift from the regulator's traditional reliance on "negotiated settlements" and discretionary enforcement to a regime of strict, rule-based accountability.
A New Era of "Predictable Sanctions"
For years, Nigerian subscribers have battled dropped calls, sluggish data speeds, and unexplained service outages. While the NCC has occasionally fined operators like MTN, Airtel, and Globacom in the past, these penalties were often seen as sporadic or delayed by long periods of mediation.
Minister Tijani’s new framework aims to remove this human element. Under the 90-day roadmap, the NCC must transition to automatic, progressive sanctions. This means that once a service breach is detected through real-time monitoring, a predefined penalty is triggered without the need for lengthy deliberations.
"Infrastructure investment enables capacity, but regulatory enforcement and accountability must deliver quality," the Minister stated, emphasizing that Nigerians must see tangible value for their money.
The 90-Day Roadmap to Quality
The directive is structured into three critical phases designed to transform the subscriber experience by the end of the first quarter of 2026:
Phase 1 (The first 30 days): Transparency The NCC is mandated to launch a Consumer Experience Index and an Uptime Report portal. This portal will function as a real-time dashboard where operators must log outages, their causes, and estimated restoration times. For the first time, technical performance data will be published alongside direct user feedback.
Phase 2 (Day 60): Enforcement This phase introduces the automatic penalty system. It also mandates time-bound Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for resolving consumer complaints. If an operator fails to fix a reported issue within the stipulated timeframe, the system will automatically record a breach.
Phase 3 (Day 90): Escalation for Chronic Offenders By the final deadline, the NCC must implement "escalation measures" for operators with persistent deficiencies. Chronic offenders will be required to submit formal remediation plans and face even steeper financial consequences if improvements are not met.
Industry Pushback and Economic Reality
While the directive has been met with cheers from consumer advocacy groups, the telecommunications industry is cautious. Operators have long cited the high cost of doing business in Nigeria ranging from soaring energy costs (powering base stations with diesel) to the vandalism of fiber optic cables and multiple taxation by state governments.
In early 2025, the government allowed a tariff hike of up to 50% to help operators cope with the devaluation of the Naira. However, Minister Tijani has made it clear that higher tariffs must be matched by higher standards. To support the operators, the Ministry is concurrently working on the "BRIDGE" Project, a $2 billion initiative to expand Nigeria’s fiber-optic backbone by 90,000km, and has successfully pushed for the criminalization of telecom infrastructure vandalism.
The Stakes for 2026
The timing of this directive is crucial. As Nigeria aims to grow its digital economy fueled by fintech, e-commerce, and the 3MTT talent program unreliable connectivity remains a significant bottleneck.
The NCC’s Executive Vice-Chairman, Dr. Aminu Maida, has indicated that the commission’s 2026 strategy is now fully aligned with the Minister’s "outcome-based" regulation. By late April 2026, the NCC is expected to publish a final progress report comparing service levels against current baselines.
For the over 220 million mobile subscribers in Nigeria, the next 90 days will determine if the era of "sorry for the inconvenience" is finally coming to an end, replaced by a system where poor service actually costs the provider more than the customer.
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