Nigeria’s telecommunications infrastructure has been formally recognised as Critical National Information Infrastructure, but persistent fibre cuts and network outages point to a gap between legal designation and effective enforcement.
The country had 195.1 million active telephone subscribers as of July 2026, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
In June 2024, President Bola Tinubu gazetted the Designation and Protection of Critical National Information Infrastructure Order 2024, bringing telecommunications towers, base stations, fibre optic cables, data centres, submarine cables and internet landing points under the CNII framework.
The Order provides criminal penalties for interference with designated infrastructure.
But key elements of the framework remain outstanding.
The Critical National Information Infrastructure Protection Plan required under the Order has yet to be published, while the Trusted Information Sharing Network established by the framework has yet to be fully operationalised.
The development comes as telecommunications assumes a larger role in Nigeria’s economy.
The NBS Q2 2026 GDP report placed real output of the broader information and communication technology sector at N6 trillion, while telecommunications accounted for 9.72 per cent of total real GDP, contributing N5.20 trillion during the quarter.
The financial footprint of the industry is also expanding.
MTN Nigeria recorded N2.9 trillion in service revenue in the first half of 2026, representing 25.9 per cent year-on-year growth. Data revenue reached N1.7 trillion, growing 38.4 per cent.
The company remitted approximately N622 billion in taxes, duties and levies in the first half of 2026. Its total payments to federal and state authorities stood at N878.7 billion in 2025, compared with N764 billion in 2024.
Airtel Africa recorded 47.5 per cent constant-currency revenue growth from its Nigerian operations in the financial year ended March 2026.
Meanwhile, the country’s financial system increasingly depends on electronic connectivity.
NIBSS processed N1.07 quadrillion in electronic payment transactions over the benchmark year, including 11.2 billion distinct transfers through its Instant Payments platform, a 120 per cent increase over 2022 levels.
More than 28 million adults, representing 26 per cent of Nigeria’s adult population, remain outside the formal banking system but within reach of mobile networks.
Network disruption therefore carries consequences beyond telecommunications.
The NCC’s uptime portal recorded 577 network outages in Q1 2026, including 361 caused by fibre cuts.
In May 2026, operators recorded 245 major outages, with fibre cuts responsible for 183, or 75 per cent.
MTN Nigeria recorded more than 9,000 fibre cuts in 2025, while Airtel reported approximately 1,000 per month.
At the same time, the country is rapidly expanding network infrastructure.
Broadband penetration increased from 56.79 per cent in June 2026 to 57.40 per cent in July, equivalent to roughly 122 million broadband subscriptions.
Project BRIDGE, announced by the government in August, is expected to add 90,000 kilometres of open-access fibre optic cable and increase Nigeria’s national fibre footprint to approximately 125,000 kilometres.
MTN Nigeria invested N1.62 trillion in network infrastructure between 2025 and the first half of 2026 and plans to sustain the pace.
The growing infrastructure base has made the question of protection more urgent.
The CNII framework envisages stronger physical security, statutory quality-of-service compliance, investment certainty and coordinated emergency response when designated infrastructure is disrupted.
It also raises the issue of right-of-way.
Operators continue to deal with right-of-way permits involving state and local authorities, while the planned expansion of the fibre network will require coordination across jurisdictions.
Nigeria has therefore established the legal foundation for protecting telecommunications as critical national infrastructure.
The outstanding challenge is operationalising that framework through the CNII Protection Plan, the Trusted Information Sharing Network, specialised prosecution arrangements, emergency response protocols and harmonised right-of-way processes.
