The federal government has directed telecommunication companies to bar outgoing calls for telephone lines that have not complied with the NIN-SIM linkage Policy from the 4th of April, 2022.
It also commended Nigerians and legal residents for their support during the exercise to link National Identification Number (NIN) to the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM).
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami disclosed this in a joint statement issued on Monday and signed by the NCC Director, Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde and The Head, Corporate Communications, NIMC, Kayode Adegoke
The statement noted that 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 would be recalled that 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 has 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”.
“Accordingly, Mr. President graciously approved the many requests to extend deadlines for the NIN-SIM linkage. At this point however, 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”
