Nigeria Surpasses 200 Million Mobile Connections in 2026

As of September 2026, Nigeria's telecommunications sector has achieved over 200 million mobile connections, totaling 200,337,097. This milestone follows a recovery of approximately 18.1 million connections since January 2026, after the Federal Government's National Identification Number (NIN)-SIM verification exercise led to the disconnection of millions of subscriber lines in 2024.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) enforced a mandatory NIN-SIM linkage policy, resulting in the removal of about 59.7 million lines, which caused active mobile connections to drop from 224.7 million in 2023 to 164.9 million by December 2024. The increase in connections is attributed to subscribers resolving registration and verification issues, contributing to the recovery of the telecom sector.

The current figures indicate that while mobile connections have surpassed 200 million, they remain below the pre-clean-up total. The growth supports digital services and financial inclusion across Nigeria.