Nigeria Phone Number Validator

Nigeria uses a unified 11-digit national numbering plan regulated by the NCC (Nigerian Communications Commission). Whether you are building a sign-up form, cleaning a contacts database, or simply checking a number someone gave you, this tool instantly tells you whether the number is structurally valid, which network operator owns the prefix, and gives you the number in the two standard formats — national and E.164 international.

How it works

Nigerian phone numbers in national format are always exactly 11 digits and always begin with 0. The first four digits identify the network operator (or landline area). In E.164 format the leading 0 is replaced by the country code +234, giving a 13-character international string such as +234 803 123 4567.

The validator follows three steps:

1. Normalise — strips spaces, hyphens, brackets and dots; converts any +234 or 00234 prefix to a national leading 0.
2. Length check — rejects anything shorter than 11 digits or longer than 11 digits; the NCC plan has no exceptions to this rule for subscriber-facing numbers.
3. Prefix match — compares the first four digits against the NCC allocation table, longest prefix first, to identify the operator (MTN, Airtel, Glo, 9mobile, Ntel, Smile) or the landline area code (Lagos 01, Abuja 09x, Port Harcourt 052, Kano 062, etc.).

A number passes as valid when it is 11 digits and its prefix is listed in the current NCC allocation. The tool also flags whether a range is withdrawn or inactive per publicly available NCC records.

Network operator prefixes (summary)

Nigeria has four major mobile network operators and several smaller ones. Their allocated prefixes are:

Landlines use geographic area codes in the 01–09 range (where the prefix does not match a mobile block): 01 for Lagos, 02 for Ibadan, 094/095/096 for Abuja, 052/053 for Port Harcourt/Aba, 062/063 for Kano/Kaduna, and dozens of others.

Worked example

Suppose you receive the number +234-802-555-0199. The validator:

1. Strips punctuation and converts to national form: 08025550199 (11 digits).
2. Confirms the length is exactly 11. Pass.
3. Matches prefix 0802 to Airtel Nigeria, Mobile. Pass.
4. Returns: Valid — Airtel Nigeria Mobile — national 0802 555 0199 — E.164 +234 802 550 0199.

Now try 07123456789. The prefix 0712 is not currently allocated in the NCC plan, so the tool returns Invalid with the reason: “The prefix 0712 is not allocated in the NCC numbering plan.”

Everything runs in your browser — no number you type is ever transmitted to a server.