Who controls Nigeria’s only communications satellite? Inside a growing $11.4m dispute with China

A dispute over $11.4 million in unpaid fees has put Nigeria’s only operational communications satellite at risk of losing the technical support keeping it in orbit and revealed that the country has lacked direct control of the spacecraft for nearly seven years.
Documents and interviews seen by TechCabal reveal that the NigComSat-1R satellite has reportedly been controlled from a ground station in China since 2018, after lightning destroyed Nigeria’s primary control facility in Abuja.  
The arrangement, originally designed as a temporary backup, became fixed, and the Chinese contractor running it, China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC), says it has not been paid for the service...