Mohammed Idris, Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation (FMINO), has announced, the country’s Digital Switch Over (DSO) project is now set for commissioning nationwide.
This was made known via a Press Release by the Ministry on Wednesday 13 May, 2026.
Idris made the announcement during his tour of facilities at NIGCOMSAT at the Obasanjo Space Centre on Wednesday.
The Press Release signed by Rabiu Ibrahim, Special Assistant, Media, to the Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation, reads: “The Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has announced that Nigeria’s long-awaited Digital Switch Over (DSO) project is now fully ready for nationwide launch, describing it as a major milestone in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reform agenda for the broadcast industry.
“The Minister made this known during a tour of facilities at NIGCOMSAT located at the Obasanjo Space Centre, on Wednesday, alongside the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission, Charles Ebuebu and the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NIGCOMSAT, Jane Egerton-Idehen.”
The move, a “turning point” for the broadcasting sector of Nigeria is a “new dawn for our country”. Coming after “many years of delay”, DSO, which will be officially launched in June, will migrate Nigeria from “analogue to digital broadcasting”.
The Press Release continues: “Describing the development as a turning point for Nigeria’s broadcasting sector, the Minister said: “I think this is a new dawn for our country. The promise that President Tinubu made to reform all sectors is now being seen in action in the broadcast industry.”
“He noted that after many years of delay, Nigeria is finally set to complete the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting, adding that the DSO platform is scheduled for official commissioning on June 17, 2026.”
The Minister further said, the project will bring about a lot of “advantages” to broadcaster, viewers and advertisers. Also, “an accurate measurement and analytics” will be made available, which will be helpful to advertises and broadcaster when making reasonable decisions in their programming and investment.
The Press Release also reads: “Speaking further on the benefits of the new digital broadcasting ecosystem, the Minister stated: “This is going to bring a lot of advantages to broadcasters, viewers, and advertisers. If you are viewing any particular station, you know who is viewing, what they are watching, and how many people are watching.”
“According to him, the new system will provide accurate audience measurement and analytics that will help advertisers and broadcasters make informed programming and investment decisions while improving content delivery to Nigerians.”
Idris said: ““The monopoly has been broken. Everybody is going to compete. Content is going to grow, viewership will grow, and Nigeria is now moving from SD to HD broadcasting””.
According to the Press Release, Nigerians will now have access to “cleaner television signals through satellite and mobile applications powered by NIGCOMSAT technology”.
The Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission, Charles Ebuebu, said, the upgraded DSO framework was built to harmonize with “emerging technologies and modern viewing habits”.
Ebuebu said: ““We’re going to have 100 channels by the day of launch and even more because more content producers are talking to us. We want to create one market and one platform for Nigeria””.
Photo: Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation (FMINO), toured the Direct-To-Home (DTH) Centre of NIGCOMSAT to assess the level of preparedness ahead of the launch of Nigeria’s Digital Switch Over (DSO) project scheduled for June 2026
