Nigeria's active mobile lines climb back above 200 million, NCC figures show
Nigeria's active mobile subscriptions reached 200,337,097 in September 2026, the Nigerian Communications Commission's figures show — back above 200 million for the first time since the NIN-SIM registration enforcement removed tens of millions of lines in 2024. MTN Nigeria held 104.6 million lines and Airtel 68 million, together about 86% of the market; data use grew about 51% year on year in September, TechCabal reports. The count is of active lines, not individual people, since many subscribers carry more than one SIM.
Key points
- Active mobile lines reached 200,337,097 in September 2026 — back above 200 million for the first time since the 2024 NIN-SIM disconnections.
- MTN (104.6 million) and Airtel (68 million) together hold about 86% of active lines.
- The count is of lines, not people: multiple SIM ownership means it is not a count of individual users.
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- Data use grew about 51% year on year in September, and 5G's share passed 5% for the first time.
What happened
The federal government's NIN-SIM linkage policy, introduced in December 2020, required every SIM to be tied to a verified National Identification Number. Full enforcement in 2024 removed tens of millions of unlinked lines and cut the reported base from 224.7 million in December 2023 to 154.9 million by September 2024 on BusinessDay's account of the NCC figures.
Operators have since rebuilt the base through new activations and restored lines: connections rose by more than 18 million in the first nine months of 2026 alone.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- The NCC's September 2026 total, the operator shares and the 2024 comparison figures, as reported consistently by BusinessDay and TechCabal.
What we don't know yet
- How many individual people those 200 million lines represent — the NCC counts subscriptions, and many people carry more than one SIM.
- Whether the growth rate is sustained into the final quarter of 2026 — the next NCC release will show it.
Claim by claim
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Why this label: The exact September total and the August comparison agree in both reports of the NCC's figures. One report of the same milestone dated the crossing to October with a July comparison; the exact NCC figure both detailed reports give belongs to September, and that is the month carried here.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The operator totals agree between the two reports to within rounding on Globacom's figure, which is given as a range.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The 2023–2024 figures are the NCC's own year-end numbers as reported by TechCabal; the September total remains about 24 million below the 2023 peak.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why it matters
Passing 200 million lines again closes the statistical wound the NIN-SIM exercise opened in 2024 — but the market that came back is more concentrated, with two operators holding about six of every seven lines, and its growth is now driven by data rather than voice. The September total is still about 24 million lines below the 2023 peak.
Background
Active lines peak at 224.7 million before full NIN-SIM enforcement.
Enforcement disconnects tens of millions of unlinked lines; the year ends at 164.9 million active subscriptions.
Active subscriptions reach 200,337,097, crossing 200 million again.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
- Latest
Published — the NCC's September figures put active lines at 200,337,097, back above 200 million for the first time since 2024.