Reps Approve N479.5bn NCC Budget for 2026

The House of Representatives has approved a ₦479.5bn budget for the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for the 2026 financial year.

The approval followed the presentation of the Committee on Communications’ report, which detailed the breakdown of the commission’s statutory revenue fund, drawn from licensing fees, spectrum charges, annual operating levies, and other regulatory sources.

Of the total, ₦124.44bn was allocated to recurrent expenditure, including ₦38.53bn for salaries, ₦29.97bn for personnel costs, ₦28.45bn for operations, and ₦11.53bn for administrative expenses.

Travel-related costs were pegged at ₦7.23bn, while spectrum-related expenses accounted for ₦6.93bn.

Capital expenditure was set at ₦26.78bn, covering internal projects and consultancy services, while ₦32.01bn was earmarked for special projects such as emergency communications centres (₦6.92bn), network quality monitoring (₦2.31bn), and school intervention programmes (₦10.79bn).

Other allocations included ₦2.02bn for digital skills acquisition, ₦2.23bn for subscriber database management, and ₦7.74bn for ongoing intervention projects.

The NCC will also transfer ₦20bn to the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) and remit ₦276.28bn in surplus revenue to the federal government.

Projected revenue drivers include ₦250bn from annual operating levies, ₦192.89bn from spectrum fees, and smaller contributions from type-approval fees, numbering plan charges, administrative fees, and licensing.

Committee Chairman Peter Akpatason said the budget reflects the NCC’s role in expanding digital infrastructure, supporting schools, and ensuring sustainable regulation of Nigeria’s telecoms sector.