Nigeria's Right-of-Way Fee Chaos Blocks Fibre Rollout 13 Years After Cap Agreement
Thirteen years after a N145 right-of-way agreement was signed, Nigerian states continue to charge fees ranging from N6,600 to N700,000 per metre for fibre infrastructure deployment, far exceeding the agreed cap. The persistent non-compliance is being cited as a quantifiable policy failure that materially blocks broadband rollout across the country.
Nigeria RoW: the ₦145 cap was never a cap — it was a suggestion
Thirteen years of a signed agreement, three federal interventions, and the number on paper is still ₦145 per metre. The number on the ground is anywhere from ₦850 to ₦700,000.
The trick states have learned: waive the headline fee, then charge ₦100,000 just to submit the application. Adamawa and Enugu both do exactly this. The portal the Nigerian Communications Commission built to track compliance quietly confirms what operators already know.
This is why Nigeria's fibre tripling mostly lands in Lagos, Abuja, and Rivers — the only places where the returns can absorb whatever a state decides to charge that week.
A policy no state can be compelled to honour isn't a policy. It's a cost that the parts of Nigeria already connected never feel, and everywhere else does.