We didn’t instruct telcos to tamper with network – FG

The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, has vehemently denied allegations that the federal government instructed telecommunication operators to disrupt network services in the country. The minister made this statement during an interview on Channels Television on Thursday.

Nigerians had reported widespread internet connectivity issues across all service providers earlier in the day, with many attributing the outage to a government-backed move to stifle protests. However, Tijani refuted these claims, stating that there were no instructions from his office or any other government agency to tamper with the network.

The minister acknowledged that high internet usage during a protest could lead to slow network speeds, but emphasized that this was not the cause of the outage. He highlighted that his office’s role extends beyond merely driving growth in the digital economy to also ensuring adequate investments in infrastructure to deliver quality services.

Tijani also shed light on the country’s telecommunications challenges, citing a significant deficit in fibre optic cable infrastructure. Nigeria requires approximately 125,000 kilometers of fibre optic cables to achieve good quality telecommunications and connectivity services. Unfortunately, only 85,000 kilometers have been invested in by both the public and private sectors. The minister revealed that the government has already approved a project to address this shortage, but warned that it would take time to implement.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has already given its nod to the project, which aims to bridge the fibre optic gap. While acknowledging that it may take more than six months to complete, Tijani reassured Nigerians that the government is committed to improving the country’s digital infrastructure and connectivity services.