In December 2014, Nigeria's National Council on Privatisation (NCP) approved the sale of Nigerian Telecommunications (NITEL) and its mobile arm (M-Tel) to NATCOM Consortium. The government still owns 25% of the NITEL (the incumbent). The government announced it plans to return to the market to sell the remaining 25% to Nigerians through Initial Public Offering (IPO).

It is reported that Nigeria mandates functional and accounting separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market.

According to Art. 31 of the Nigerian Communications Act, no person is allowed to operate a communication system or facility nor provide communication service in Nigeria, unless authorised to do so. Internet Service Provision and Internet Exchange licences authorise the provision of data services. On the other hand, the provision of voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) does not require a license.
However, in order to operate in the Nigerian telecom market, promoters or investors have to register a company in Nigeria whose entity is separate and distinct from its parent company. The locally incorporated branch or subsidiary, in accordance with the provisions of Section 20 of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission Act, must apply to the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission ("NIPC") for company registration and other necessary authorisations and licenses to allow foreign participation.

Nigeria has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

It is reported that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

Sections 11.1 (4) and 12.1 (4) of the Guidelines for Nigerian Content Development in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) require telecommunication companies and network service companies to host all subscriber and consumer data within the country in line with existing legislation.

Section 13.2 of the Guidelines for Nigerian Content Development in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) requires Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to ensure that all sovereign data is hosted locally on servers within Nigeria. The MDAs should also promote as mandatory the presence of system logs and other computer data logging technologies to aid in the effective troubleshooting and forensic investigation of events in Government systems.
Section 9.0 of the Cloud Computing Policy further stipulates that sensitive governmental and citizen data must be retained within national borders, either through internal frameworks operated by public institutions or via domestically based cloud service providers. This requirement applies specifically to data generated or managed by public sector entities.

Nigeria is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Nigeria has a clear regime of copyright exceptions that follows the fair dealing model, which enables others to make the lawful use of copyrighted work. Section 6 of the Second Schedule of the Copyright Act lists the exceptions, which include research, private use, criticism or review or the reporting of current events subject to the condition that, if the use is public, it shall be accompanied by an acknowledgement of the title of the work and its authorship, except where the work is incidentally included in a broadcast.

It has been reported that intellectual property rights (IPR) enforcement agencies lack the necessary resources and inter-agency cooperation to improve enforcement. In addition, it is reported that pirate websites have kept local filmmakers suffocated in recent years by uploading popular titles to the Internet for download once such films hit theatres or debut on streams platforms.

Nigeria is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II).

In 2013, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) promulgated guidelines concerning Nigerian content in the information and communications technology sector, with subsequent amendments in 2019. These guidelines are applicable to both public sector entities and private enterprises. Section 10.4 (1-2) mandates that ministries and government agencies procure software exclusively from local and indigenous software development firms. Where local software development capacity is inadequate, a Nigerian company is required to undertake the procurement, installation, and support of the software.

In February 2018, Executive Order 5 introduced additional restrictions and obligations for public procurement in the fields of science, engineering, and technology. The order specifies that only when expertise is lacking domestically, procuring entities can prioritise foreign companies or firms that present verifiable plans for indigenous capacity development before awarding contracts. Furthermore, ministries, departments, and agencies are required to engage indigenous professionals in the planning, design, and execution of national security projects. Consideration may only be given to foreign professionals if the appropriate authority certifies that the necessary expertise is unavailable within Nigeria.