President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the removal of the 5% excise tax on telecommunications services in Nigeria, a decision aimed at reducing the financial burden on millions of mobile phone users.
The tax, which was meant to cover both voice calls and data services, had faced widespread opposition from industry stakeholders and consumer rights groups since its introduction under the previous administration of Muhammadu Buhari.
Announcing the development, Aminu Maida, Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), revealed that the President gave the directive during deliberations on the recently passed Finance Act.
The move is expected to provide relief for over 171 million active telecom subscribers nationwide, many of whom have already been grappling with a 50% tariff hike introduced earlier this year.