The Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) will comply with the Federal Government’s directive barring outgoing calls of subscribers that have note linked their National Identity Number (NIN) with their SIMs.
This was disclosed by one of the media aides of President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmed, on Tuesday via his Twitter handle.
According to him, the NIN-SIM linkage is still on-going, encouraging Nigerians to link their SIMs with NIN.
What Presidency is saying
He Tweeted, “The Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) says its members will comply with the FG’s directive barring outgoing calls of subscribers who are yet to link their NIN with their SIMs. The NIN-SIM linkage is still ongoing, link yours, TODAY.”
What you should know about NIN-SIM
Telecommunication companies in Nigeria were ordered by the federal government to block all outgoing calls on unlinked SIM cards, according to Nairametrics.
This was revealed in a joint statement on Monday morning by Ikechukwu Adinde, Director, Public Affairs, NCC and Kayode Adegoke, head, corporate communications, NIMC.
The statement noted that the Federal Government directed all Telcos to strictly enforce the Policy on all SIMs issued (existing and new) in Nigeria.
What NCC is saying
The statement noted that blocking of the registered SIM cards should take effect from April 4, 2022.
According to the statement, President Buhari had 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.
The statement read in part, “It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, 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.
“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.”
