The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has prioritised the supervision of terrorism financing as part of efforts to protect the country’s financial system from abuse by illicit actors.

The apex bank disclosed this in a statement signed by its Acting Director, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Department, Sidi-Ali Hakama, on Tuesday.

The supervisory focus would cover terrorism-financing risk management, transaction monitoring, targeted financial sanctions implementation, and suspicious-transaction reporting related to terrorism financing.

“This supervisory priority covers, at a high level, terrorism-financing risk management, terrorism-financing transaction monitoring, targeted financial sanctions implementation, and terrorism financing-related suspicious transaction reporting,” CBN said.

CBN also said it would continue to apply a risk-based supervisory approach, including on-site and off-site engagements, to strengthen anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing, and counter-proliferation financing controls across the financial sector.

“The Bank will continue to apply a risk-based supervisory approach, including on-site and off-site engagement, to support effective AML/CFT/CPF controls across the financial sector in line with existing legal and regulatory obligations,” it said.

The regulator further explained that the supervisory focus would also support Nigeria’s domestic and international cooperation on counter-terrorism financing, counter-proliferation financing, financial integrity and the protection of the financial system.

The apex bank added that further supervisory engagement would be undertaken where necessary.

“Further supervisory engagement will be undertaken as appropriate,” it said.

This is another step by the regulator to curb terrorism financing and prevent illicit actors from abusing the financial system.

READ ALSO: CBN removes FX, government securities restrictions on discount window access

In June, CBN directed banks and other financial institutions to immediately freeze accounts and assets linked to six individuals and four Bureau de Change (BDC) operators designated for terrorism and terrorism-financing-related activities, following an update to the Nigeria Sanctions List on 18 June.

In March, the CBN also amended the Revised Regulatory Framework for BVN and Watch-List for the Nigerian Banking Industry.

The amendment introduced measures that include a temporary 24-hour watch-list for BVNs linked to suspected fraudulent transactions, restricting BVN enrolment to persons aged 18 and above, limiting phone number amendments to once, and restricting access to BVN databases to CBN-licensed financial institutions.

Ogun, Kano and Delta have the highest reported Right of Way (RoW) charges among Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with Ogun charging ₦6,600 per linear metre, more than twice the rates reported by the next two states.

An analysis of three RoW datasets by the Nigerian Communications Commission reviewed by Technology Times shows a wide disparity in the reported cost of securing Right of Way for infrastructure deployment across the country.

Ogun records the highest charge at ₦6,600 per metre, followed by Kano at ₦2,754 and Delta at ₦2,706.

The three states are the only jurisdictions in the supplied datasets with RoW charges above ₦2,700 per linear metre.

The figures place Ogun significantly ahead of the other two states. Its reported charge is ₦3,846 per metre higher than Kano and ₦3,894 higher than Delta.

Together, the three states form the highest-cost tier in the 37-jurisdiction dataset comprising all 36 states and the FCT.

Top three RoW charges

The three-state comparison shows the sharp concentration at the top of the RoW pricing table.

Ogun’s ₦6,600 charge is approximately 2.4 times Kano’s ₦2,754 and 2.4 times Delta’s ₦2,706.

Kano and Delta, however, are almost evenly matched, with a difference of only ₦48 per metre.

Ogun stands clearly above the other states

The most significant finding in the dataset is Ogun’s position at the top.

At ₦6,600 per metre, its reported RoW charge is substantially higher than every other jurisdiction in the three tables.

The difference becomes particularly visible when the charges are translated into hypothetical route lengths.

These calculations are illustrations based solely on multiplying the reported per-metre charge by the stated route length. They do not represent estimates of actual project costs.

Nevertheless, they demonstrate the significance of the difference.

For every 100 km of infrastructure, the reported RoW charge would be ₦660 million in Ogun, compared with ₦275.4 million in Kano and ₦270.6 million in Delta, if the applicable rate were applied uniformly across the entire route.

The difference between Ogun and Delta alone would therefore be ₦389.4 million for 100 km.

Kano and Delta form a closely matched second tier

While Ogun is the clear outlier, Kano and Delta are almost identical in the supplied data.

Kano’s reported charge is ₦2,754 per metre, while Delta’s is ₦2,706.

The difference is just:

₦2,754 − ₦2,706 = ₦48 per metre.

That means Kano’s charge is only about 1.8% higher than Delta’s.

For a 10 km route, the difference between the two states would be:

₦27.54 million − ₦27.06 million = ₦480,000.

At 100 km, the difference would rise to ₦4.8 million.

The close positioning of Kano and Delta contrasts sharply with the much larger gap separating them from Ogun.

The top three are substantially above the rest

The wider dataset contains nine jurisdictions with charges above ₦145 per metre.

After Ogun, Kano and Delta, the next highest reported charges are:

This ranking places the three leading states in a distinct position.

Ogun is ₦3,846 per metre above Kano, while Kano and Delta are separated by only ₦48.

The fourth-ranked jurisdiction, Rivers, is also considerably below the top three at ₦2,256.

Thus, the supplied data points to a particularly steep increase at the very top of the ranking.

The top three compared with the ₦145 group

The significance of the three highest charges becomes even clearer when they are compared with the 16 states in the second dataset, all of which report ₦145 per metre.

Ogun’s reported rate is therefore 45.5 times the ₦145 charge.

Kano’s rate is approximately 19 times higher, while Delta’s is about 18.7 times higher.

This difference has direct implications for the nominal cost of long fibre routes.

A 10 km route at ₦145 per metre would generate a reported RoW charge of ₦1.45 million.

The same 10 km at the three highest reported rates would cost:

• Ogun: ₦66 million
• Kano: ₦27.54 million
• Delta: ₦27.06 million

The Ogun figure is therefore ₦64.55 million higher than the ₦145 scenario for every 10 km.

The contrast with zero-charge states is even greater

The third dataset identifies 12 states with a reported RoW charge of ₦0.

These are Adamawa, Anambra, Bauchi, Benue, Enugu, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Niger and Zamfara.

That creates an even wider range between the top three states and the zero-charge group.

The three datasets therefore show a national RoW range running from ₦0 to ₦6,600 per metre.

The difference between the lowest and highest reported rates is ₦6,600 per metre.

For a 100 km route, that translates into a difference of ₦660 million between the zero-charge scenario and Ogun’s reported rate.

Again, this is a mathematical comparison of the supplied charges and not a claim about the total cost of fibre deployment.

Top three account for a disproportionate share of reported charges

There is another important feature of the data.

Across all 37 jurisdictions, the reported charges add up to ₦22,786 per metre when each jurisdiction’s figure is counted once.

Ogun, Kano and Delta together account for:

₦6,600 + ₦2,754 + ₦2,706 = ₦12,060.

That means the top three alone account for approximately 52.9% of the combined reported charges across all 37 jurisdictions.

This is striking because they represent only three of the 37 jurisdictions, or approximately 8.1% of the jurisdictions in the dataset.

The calculation illustrates how heavily the national aggregate is influenced by the highest charges.

Ogun alone contributes ₦6,600, or approximately 29% of the combined reported charges across the 37 jurisdictions.

The top three therefore dominate the numerical distribution even though they represent a relatively small proportion of the jurisdictions covered.

What the full ranking reveals

The top three should also be understood against the wider distribution.

The data shows that 28 of the 37 jurisdictions, or 75.7%, have reported charges of ₦145 or less.

Only nine jurisdictions are above ₦145.

Ogun, Kano and Delta are therefore not representative of the largest group of states in the dataset. Instead, they are the three highest points within a smaller high-charge category.

This makes their ranking particularly significant from a national infrastructure perspective.

Potential implications for digital infrastructure economics

The figures analysed by Technology Times show that the financial exposure associated with RoW can vary dramatically depending on the jurisdiction.

For network operators and infrastructure companies, the difference becomes more material as the length of a fibre route increases.

At 10 km, the difference between Ogun and Delta is ₦38.94 million.

At 100 km, it becomes ₦389.4 million.

At 500 km, it reaches ₦1.947 billion.

These calculations demonstrate why a per-metre charge can become significant when applied to long-distance infrastructure.

The tables do not provide information about actual fibre routes, network investment, construction costs or whether the stated charge is applied uniformly to every kilometre of a project. Therefore, the data cannot establish the precise financial impact on individual operators or projects.

What it does establish is that the reported RoW charge itself varies considerably across jurisdictions.

Ogun’s position is the central finding

The strongest development from the supplied data is Ogun’s position.

At ₦6,600 per metre, Ogun is:

• the highest-priced jurisdiction in the three datasets;
• ₦3,846 per metre above Kano;
• ₦3,894 per metre above Delta;
• approximately 45.5 times the ₦145 rate;
• and the only jurisdiction in the supplied data above ₦6,000 per metre.

Kano and Delta occupy the next two positions, with almost identical charges.

Their close pricing suggests a second tier immediately below Ogun, while the gap between the third and fourth positions, Delta’s ₦2,706 and Rivers’ ₦2,256, is ₦450 per metre.

National perspective

The three datasets collectively indicate that Nigeria’s reported RoW charges are highly uneven.

Twelve states report no charge, 16 report ₦145 per metre, and nine report higher charges.

Within that nine-state group, Ogun, Kano and Delta lead the ranking.

Their combined charge of ₦12,060 per metre represents more than half of the sum of all reported jurisdiction-level charges in the dataset, despite the three jurisdictions accounting for only 8.1% of the 37 jurisdictions represented.

The data therefore points to a concentrated high-cost segment within an otherwise predominantly low-charge national distribution.

For digital infrastructure deployment, the key issue raised by the figures is the extent to which jurisdictional differences in RoW charges can alter the nominal economics of extending fibre networks across Nigeria.

A 10 km route at Ogun’s reported rate would attract ₦66 million in RoW charges, compared with ₦27.54 million in Kano and ₦27.06 million in Delta. At the ₦145 rate, the same route would cost ₦1.45 million, while the 12 zero-charge states record no RoW charge in the supplied data.