The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Aminu Maida, announced the development during an interactive session with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, August 19, 2025.
Maida explained that the duty, which was earlier suspended, had now been completely removed by President Bola Tinubu under the new tax legislation.
“The excise duty, it was the 5 per cent or so, that is no longer there. Before it was suspended, but now the president has been magnanimous to remove it entirely. 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,” he disclosed.
Maida stressed that eliminating the charge would ease cost pressures on subscribers and enable wider industry growth.
He added that reforms within the sector were now guided by principles of transparency, accountability, and stronger consumer protection.
The EVC revealed that the regulator was moving beyond traditional rule-based supervision to incorporate behavioural economics, which includes providing more information for consumers and operators to make informed choices.
