President Bola Tinubu has formally abolished the contentious five per cent excise duty on telecommunications services, a move confirmed by the nation’s communications regulator.
The decision, enacted under new tax legislation, is intended to alleviate financial pressure onu consumers and support growth within a vital sector of the Nigerian economy.
The Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Aminu Maida, confirmed the levy’s removal during an interactive session with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.
He stated that the duty, which had been in a state of suspension, has now been entirely scrapped. “The excise duty, it was the 5 per cent or so, that is no longer there,” Dr Maida said. “Before it was suspended, but now the president has been magnanimous to remove it entirely.”
Dr Maida provided a firsthand account of the President’s decisive reaction to the proposal, noting, “I was in a room when it was raised, and he said, ‘No, no, no, we cannot put this on Nigerians.’ I was very pleased when the bills came out and we saw his words were followed through.”
The duty was part of a wider tax reform initiative and had faced significant public opposition since it was first introduced in 2022, leading to its initial suspension by President Tinubu in July 2023 over concerns about its impact on consumers and the economy.
With Nigeria’s telecom sector being central to economic activity and digital inclusion, the NCC believes the removal of the duty will ease pressure on subscribers while supporting wider growth. Dr Maida outlined that the commission is pursuing broader reforms anchored on transparency, accountability, and enhanced consumer protection.
These initiatives include the forthcoming public release of a network performance map in September, which will display independent data on quality indicators, and the introduction of quarterly performance reports.
The regulator is also addressing longstanding consumer grievances. On the issue of failed electronic top-ups, Dr Maida confirmed a joint NCC-Central Bank task force had developed a new operational framework to standardise recharge processes. Furthermore, he revealed that Tier-1 audit firms were engaged to investigate complaints of data depletion, with their findings showing no systemic manipulation by operators.
Instead, factors such as background app usage and complex tariff structures were identified as primary contributors to consumer dissatisfaction. “We are not trying to punish anyone,” he stated. “We want the industry to grow, so consumers are happier, operators perform better, and the government benefits from a broader tax base.”
At the event, the NCC’s Director of Consumer Affairs Bureau, Freda Bruce-Bennett, offered practical advice to help Nigerians manage their data more effectively, urging subscribers to disable autoplay on social media and limit background data usage.
The NCC also emphasised the critical role of the media in relaying these regulatory efforts to the public, with Director of Public Affairs Nnenna Ukoha stating, “You are the ones that transmit and convey our transformative policies to the people of Nigeria.”
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