In a move to bolster transparency and resilience in Nigeria’s telecommunications industry, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Wednesday unveiled the 2025 Guidelines on Corporate Governance, placing telecom operators under stricter compliance mandates.
At the launch event in Lagos, the NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman, Dr. Aminu Maida, underscored the importance of the new rules, calling them a “strategic imperative” in light of growing risks from cybersecurity, climate-related threats, energy shocks, and rising consumer expectations.
According to Maida, the new framework goes beyond mere formality and now stands as a pillar for sustainability in a sector seen as foundational to Nigeria’s digital economy.
The reforms demand clearer board structures, enhanced internal controls, and strengthened audit and compliance functions. A key requirement is the separation of the roles of CEO and Chairman, which must now be held by different individuals. Boards must also include independent directors with relevant expertise in ICT and cybersecurity—a shift aimed at insulating operational decisions from political or commercial interference.
The NCC is also making regulatory officers within telecom firms directly answerable as compliance contacts. Companies will now be required to carry out structured risk assessments and submit mid-year and annual governance compliance reports—each signed off by the board—an effort Maida said was non-negotiable.
An internal review by the commission found that companies with strong governance structures were outperforming their peers in service delivery, financial discipline, and regulatory alignment, a trend the NCC now seeks to replicate sector-wide.
“Companies with robust governance frameworks consistently outperformed their peers in service delivery, financial management, and regulatory compliance,” he said.
Maida admitted the reforms might cause short-term friction for operators but insisted they will unlock long-term gains in investor confidence and service reliability. With over 150 million telecom subscriptions in Nigeria, he described the sector as “critical national infrastructure,” central to everything from financial inclusion to digital government services.
“Operators must view this not as a regulatory burden, but as a blueprint for long-term value creation. Where there is non-compliance, the commission will not hesitate to apply sanctions after the remediation window closes,” he said.
Enforcement will be phased by license category, but Maida issued a stern warning: “Non-compliance will not be tolerated beyond the remediation window.”
The reforms were welcomed by legal experts and regulators. Professor Fabian Ajogwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria who helped draft the original telecom governance code in 2014, said the updated guidelines rightly address current challenges, including AI, cybersecurity, and ESG concerns.
Titus Osavwe of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria called the initiative a “key step” towards aligning telecom governance with global best practices, especially as foreign investor scrutiny heightens.
The NCC says it will continue working closely with operators and stakeholders to ease the transition through capacity-building and technical support. But the tone is clear—telecom operators must now treat governance not as a checkbox, but as a competitive edge for surviving Nigeria’s complex digital sector.
