The Nigerian Communications Commission has called for structured collaboration with the National Judicial Institute to address the growing wave of attacks on telecommunications infrastructure and the expanding range of legal disputes arising from the country’s digital economy, describing the judiciary as a critical partner in securing the infrastructure that underpinned Nigeria’s broadband progress and national connectivity goals.
NCC Executive Vice Chairman Dr. Aminu Maida, addressing a two-day workshop for judges in Lagos, said despite broadband penetration growing from 47.70 percent in 2025 to 54.30 percent in 2026, the sector remained threatened by vandalism, fiber cuts, equipment theft, and sabotage that disrupted services for millions of citizens and compromised national security. He noted that President Tinubu had officially designated telecommunications infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure, requiring whole-of-government and whole-of-society protection.
He said judicial decisions in the sector would determine regulatory certainty for investors and shape the overall trust in Nigeria’s digital ecosystem, urging judges to move at what he described as the speed of 5G in adjudicating cases involving infrastructure destruction and digital crimes.
Chief Justice of Nigeria Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, represented by Justice Musa Saulawa, said legal systems globally were being required to confront new questions of regulation, accountability, and rights protection within the digital space, and that the judiciary could not remain detached from technological developments that were reshaping society. NJI Administrator Justice Babatunde Adejumo said the judiciary’s role in balancing freedom of expression with competing demands for privacy and security required a sophisticated understanding of the telecommunications environment and a continuous awareness of how intersecting rights shaped Nigeria’s digital trajectory.
