The Federal Government has instructed telecom firms in the country to prevent SIM cards from making calls if they are not linked to a National Identification Number.
The Nigerian Communications Commissions announced this on Monday, following repeated extensions granted by the authority.
According to NCC industry figures, Nigeria has 198.1 million mobile customers in February.
Network operators will disconnect 73.1 million SIM cards as a result of this.
The NCC said, “President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the implementation of the Policy with effect from the 4th of April, 2022. Consequently, the Federal Government has directed all Telcos to strictly enforce the Policy on all SIMs issued (existing and new) in Nigeria.
“Outgoing calls will subsequently be barred for telephone lines that have not complied with the NIN-SIM linkage Policy from the 4th of April, 2022.
“Subscribers of such lines are hereby advised to link their SIMs to their NINs before the Telcos can lift the restriction on their lines. Affected individuals are hereby advised to register for their NINs at designated centers and thereafter link the NINs to their SIMs through the channels provided by NIMC and the Telcos, including the NIMC mobile App.”
The NCC allowed a last-minute window for Nigerians to link their NIN to their SIM cards on April 1, 2022.
Over 125 million SIMs have had their NINs submitted for quick linking, verification, and authentication, according to the regulator.
To far, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued more than 78 million unique NINs.
According to the NCC, President Buhari gave the order for the exercise to be implemented and started in December 2020 as part of the administration’s security and social policies.
Multiple times, the NIN-SIM linking dates have been extended to allow Nigerians to freely comply with the Policy.
The government has extended the deadline for subscribers who already have a NIN by three weeks, to January 19.
The government moved the deadline for people who did not have a NIN by six weeks to February 9, 2021, and then to April 9, 2021, June 30, 2021, July 26, 30th December 2021, and March 30, 2022.
NCC said, “The FG also took into consideration the passionate appeals by several bodies – Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Civil Societies, Professional Bodies and a host of others – for the extension of the deadlines in the past.
“Mr. President graciously approved the many requests to extend deadlines for the NIN-SIM linkage. At this point however, the Government has determined that the NIN-SIM Policy implementation can proceed, as machinery has already been put in place to ensure compliance by citizens and legal residents. The implementation impacts on Government’s strategic planning, particularly in the areas of security and socio-economic projections.”
This site definitely has all of the information I wanted about this subject and didn’t know who to ask.
Highly energetic blog, I liked that a lot. Will there be a part 2?
Good way of describing, and good piece of writing to get information about my presentation topic, which i am going to convey in institution of higher education.
I think this is one of the most important information for me. And i’m glad reading your article. But wanna remark on few general things, The website style is ideal, the articles is really excellent : D. Good job, cheers
Good replies in return of this question with firm arguments and describing everything concerning that.