To send SMS to Nigeria through an API, you need a registered alphanumeric sender ID, a route that can legally terminate international traffic, and message content that survives Do-Not-Disturb (DND) filtering on MTN, Airtel, Glo and T2 (formerly 9mobile). Get those three right and a single API request is all it takes to deliver OTPs, alerts and campaigns to Nigerian numbers.
This guide covers the networks, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) rules, how DND treats promotional and transactional traffic, sender ID registration, character sets and a working request. For coverage and rates, see our page on bulk SMS in Nigeria.
Which mobile networks will your SMS reach in Nigeria?
Nigeria has four mobile network operators. According to the NCC’s 2024 Subscriber/Network Performance Report, the country had 164.5 million active mobile voice subscriptions in December 2024, split as follows:
| Operator | Active subscriptions (Dec 2024) | Market share |
|---|---|---|
| MTN | 84,607,831 | 51.39% |
| Airtel | 56,619,381 | 34.39% |
| Glo (Globacom) | 20,137,951 | 12.23% |
| T2 (EMTS, formerly 9mobile) | 3,283,270 | 1.99% |
9mobile rebranded as T2 in August 2025, so you will see both names in operator lists and delivery reports. Two practical points follow from the table. First, MTN and Airtel carry most of your traffic, so their filtering rules matter most. Second, Nigeria has mobile number portability, which means a number’s prefix does not reliably tell you its current network. An HLR lookup returns the live network before you send.
What NCC rules apply to business SMS?
Three sets of rules shape A2P messaging into Nigeria.
- Consumer protection and DND. The NCC’s rules on unsolicited calls and SMS sit under the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations 2007 and give subscribers the right to choose which messages they receive through the 2442 DND short code.
- International A2P licensing. In July 2025 the NCC published its Licence Framework for International A2P Messaging in Nigeria. It requires international A2P traffic to be delivered by licensed International A2P Messaging Aggregators through a centralised platform, and it states that any A2P message not accompanied by a sender ID must not be accepted by the originating operator. It also requires that consumers can opt in or out of any promotion and prohibits unsolicited, random or untargeted messages. The licence runs for five years and costs N10 million, as reported by Nairametrics.
- Data protection. The Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 governs how you collect, store and use the phone numbers on your lists.
For you as a sender, the licensing framework means one thing: ask your provider how its Nigerian traffic is terminated. Grey routes that bypass licensed channels are exactly what the framework targets, and messages on them can disappear without a clear failure reason.
How does DND affect promotional and transactional SMS?
DND is a free opt-out service that works the same way on every network. According to the NCC consumer portal, subscribers text STOP to 2442 to block all unsolicited messages (full DND), or HELP to 2442 to choose categories they want to block (partial DND). The categories include banking, real estate, education, health, consumer goods, communication and entertainment, tourism, sports, religion, new products and news alerts. ALLOW to 2442 reverses the choice and STATUS shows the current setting.
DND is aimed at unsolicited promotional content. Transactional messages, such as OTPs, payment alerts and delivery updates, are a different traffic type, and operators handle them against sender IDs registered for that purpose. In practice, that separation only holds if your content matches your registration.
| Traffic type | Examples | Effect of DND | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Promotional | Offers, product launches, newsletters | Blocked for subscribers on full DND or on partial DND for that category | Send only to opted-in contacts, expect lower reach, include an opt-out |
| Transactional | OTPs, account alerts, order and delivery updates | Not the target of DND, but filters check content | Use a sender ID registered for transactional traffic and keep promotions out of the text |
A common mistake is a transactional message with a marketing line added at the end, such as a discount code under a delivery update. Operator filters can reclassify that message as promotional, and it will then be blocked for every DND subscriber. Keep the two streams on separate sender IDs and separate templates.
How do you register a sender ID for Nigeria?
Nigerian networks expect alphanumeric sender IDs that have been registered in advance. SMS.to’s published sender ID requirements list Nigeria as alphanumeric, registration required, with the sender ID also included in the message body text. Registration typically asks for:
- The sender ID itself (up to 11 characters)
- The message type: OTP/transactional or marketing
- Sample message content, including any URLs you plan to send
- Your company name, address and website
A few habits speed up approval. Choose a sender ID that clearly matches your brand or trading name, not a generic word such as INFO or ALERT. Register separate sender IDs for transactional and marketing traffic. Submit real message samples rather than placeholders, because reviewers compare them with the brand. Build registration lead time into your launch plan and do not schedule a campaign until the sender ID is confirmed as live.
Because the sender ID must also appear in the text, start each message with your brand name, for example “AcmePay: Your code is 482913”. This helps recipients recognise you and matches what the networks expect.
Which character set should you use for Nigerian SMS?
Encoding decides how many characters fit in one message and therefore what you pay. Messages written only in the GSM-7 character set fit 160 characters in a single SMS, or 153 per part when the message is split. Any character outside that set switches the whole message to UCS-2, which fits 70 characters, or 67 per part.
- The naira sign (₦) is not in GSM-7. Write NGN or N instead, or one symbol will more than halve your character allowance.
- Tone-marked letters switch encoding. Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa text with diacritics usually forces UCS-2. Plain English and unaccented local-language text stays in GSM-7.
- The brand prefix counts. “AcmePay: ” uses nine characters of every message, so budget for it in your templates.
- Watch pasted text. Smart quotes and long dashes from word processors are UCS-2 characters. Paste templates into our Unicode SMS checker before you go live.
How can you improve delivery times to Nigerian numbers?
- Format numbers in E.164. Nigerian mobiles are often stored locally as 0803 123 4567. Send them as +2348031234567: drop the leading zero and add the country code.
- Clean your list first. Run an HLR lookup on older lists to remove inactive numbers and find ported ones. Failed messages to dead numbers still cost money.
- Track every message. Pass a
callback_urlso each delivery report (DLR) reaches your system. Our guide to SMS error codes explains what statuses such as absent subscriber mean. - Use full, branded links. Carrier filters treat unknown URL shorteners with suspicion. Declare any domains you use when you register your sender ID.
- Time promotional sends. Nigeria runs on West Africa Time (UTC+1). Send campaigns during the day and stagger large sends rather than releasing a whole list at once.
- Tell us your use case. Some content categories, such as gambling and lending, face extra scrutiny from operators. Raise them before registration, not after messages start failing.
What should you consider for OTP traffic to Nigeria?
OTP messages are the traffic you can least afford to lose. Four rules help:
- Use a dedicated sender ID registered for transactional traffic and never mix it with marketing.
- Keep the text short and plain: brand, code, expiry, and a warning not to share it. Avoid links in OTP messages.
- Set a short expiry and rate-limit requests per number, IP address and device to reduce the risk of SMS pumping fraud.
- Plan a fallback. With the SMS.to Verify API you can set a channel order across SMS, WhatsApp, Viber and Telegram, and it moves to the next channel automatically if the first one does not deliver in time.
What does a Nigeria SMS API request look like?
This request sends a single transactional message through POST https://api.sms.to/sms/send:
curl -X POST https://api.sms.to/sms/send \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"message": "AcmePay: Your login code is 482913. It expires in 5 minutes. Do not share it.",
"to": "+2348031234567",
"sender_id": "AcmePay",
"callback_url": "https://example.com/sms/delivery-reports"
}'message and to are required. sender_id should be the ID you registered for Nigeria, and callback_url is where status updates are posted. To check the cost before sending, change the path to https://api.sms.to/sms/estimate. For the same request in Node.js, Python and PHP, see how to send SMS from your app.
How SMS.to handles Nigerian traffic
When you plan traffic to Nigeria with SMS.to, your account manager registers your sender IDs with the Nigerian networks and confirms which traffic type each one is approved for. You send through the same SMS.to Nigeria SMS gateway and API used for every other country, track each message with DLR webhooks, clean lists with HLR and MNP lookups, and add WhatsApp, Viber or Telegram fallback for OTPs through the Verify API. For background on how businesses in the country use SMS, read how SMS is shaping up in Nigeria.
FAQs
Do I need to register a sender ID to send SMS to Nigeria?
Yes. Nigerian networks expect pre-registered alphanumeric sender IDs, and the NCC’s international A2P framework says messages without a sender ID must not be accepted. Register before you launch.
Will DND block my OTP messages?
DND targets unsolicited promotional messages, not transactional traffic. OTPs sent from a sender ID registered for transactional use, with no promotional wording, are handled separately from DND blocking.
Can I send promotional SMS to subscribers on DND?
No. Subscribers on full DND, or on partial DND for your category, will not receive promotional messages. Send marketing only to contacts who opted in and give them a way to opt out.
How many characters fit in one SMS to Nigeria?
160 characters in GSM-7, or 70 if the message contains any Unicode character, such as the naira sign or tone-marked letters. Longer messages are split into parts of 153 or 67 characters.
Rules change often. This guide reflects the rules as of September 2026; check with your account manager before launching a campaign.
Planning OTPs or campaigns for Nigerian users? Talk to sales and we will set up your sender IDs, routing and delivery reporting for MTN, Airtel, Glo and T2.
