By Ayomide Mamora
The Federal Government has directed telecommunication companies to block any Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards not linked to a National Identification Number (NIN) from making calls from Monday, April 4, 2022.
The development was disclosed in a joint statement by the National Communications Commission and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) on Monday
The SIM registration process began after President Muhammadu Buhari, gave the directive for the implementation and commencement of the exercise in December 2020, as part of the administration’s security and social policies.
The deadlines for the NIN-SIM linkage have however been extended on multiple occasions to allow Nigerians to freely comply with the Policy. The FG also took into consideration the passionate appeals by several bodies – Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Civil Societies, Professional Bodies and a host of others – for the extension of the deadlines in the past, and despite this many Nigerians have failed to do the needful.
President Muhammadu Buhari has however, 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 centres and thereafter link the NINs to their SIMs through the channels provided by NIMC and the Telcos, including the NIMC mobile App.
