Barely four days after the March 31 deadline set by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for the linkage of Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) with the National Identity Number (NIM) lapsed, the Federal Government on Monday ordered telecommunication companies in the country to bar outgoing calls on any line that had not complied with the industry regulator’s directive.
A statement issued by the Director, Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, and the Head Corporate Communications, NIMC, Mr. Kayode Adegoke, on the latest directive by the government indicated that the order took immediate effect.
This is as the government commended Nigerians and legal residents in the country for the support and compliance.
The government, however, advised telecom services subscribers of the unlinked lines to link their SIMs to their NINs before the telcos can lift the restriction on their lines.
The statement reads inter alia: “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.
“As of date, over 125 million SIMs have had their NINs submitted for immediate linkage, verification and authentication. Similarly, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued over 78 million unique NINs till date.”
“On behalf of the Federal Government, the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has commended Nigerians and Legal Residents for their support during the exercise to link National Identification Number (NIN) to the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM).
“As of date, over 125 Million SIMs have had their NINs submitted for immediate linkage, verification and authentication. Similarly, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued over 78 Million unique NINs till date”, it added.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari gave the directive for the implementation and commencement of the SIM-NIN linkage exercise in December 2020, as part of the administration’s security and social policies, the government had extended earlier set deadlines on multiple occasions to allow Nigerians to freely comply with the policy.
The government stated that the extensions were approved having taken into consideration the appeals by several bodies, including the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Civil Societies, Professional Bodies and a host of others.
