The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced September 14, 2024, as the final deadline for Nigerians for the ongoing SIM-NIN linkage exercise.
According to the telecom regulator, to date, over 153 million SIMs have been successfully linked to a NIN, reflecting an impressive compliance rate of 96%, a substantial increase from 69.7% in January 2024.
This, however, showed there are still millions of lines yet to be linked with NIN. As of March 2024, data from the NCC shows that there were 219 million active lines across the mobile networks of MTN, Globacom, Airtel, and 9mobile.
Achieving 100% NIN-SIM linkage
Announcing the final deadline in a statement signed by its Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, NCC said the target is to achieve 100% compliance by the said date. This means that all lines not linked by September 14 would be blocked by the network operators.
Beyond linking, all the NINs submitted by the subscribers must have been verified, which is where many telecom consumers might still have issues. According to the telecom operators, irregularities in registered data have been a major issue preventing the verification of NINs of millions of customers.
“To ensure full compliance with the NIN-SIM linkage policy, the NCC has directed all Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to complete the mandatory verification and linkage of SIMs to NINs by September 14, 2024.
“Effective September 15, 2024, the Commission expects that no SIM operating in Nigeria will be without a valid NIN.
“We urge all members of the public who have not yet completed their NIN-SIM linkage, or who have faced issues due to verification mismatches, to visit their service providers promptly to update their details before the deadline. Alternatively, the approved self-service portals are available for this purpose,” the Commission said in its statement.
Backstory
Between July 28 and 29, many telecom subscribers/consumers were unable to make or receive phone calls the telecom operators barred millions of lines National Identification Numbers (NINs) had not been verified in line with the directive of the NCC.
- This, however, led to chaos as many subscribers that besieged the telcos stores went violent. The action also coincided with a planned nationwide protest scheduled for August 1 to 10.
- This prompted the NCC to make a U-turn, by ordering all telecommunication companies in the country to reactivate all lines they had barred. The telecom regulator, however, noted that the suspension of the blockage was for a limited period to allow them to properly link their NIN to their SIM.
- Recall the compulsory linkage of NIN with SIM which began in December 2020 when the government directed telecommunication companies to bar unregistered SIM cards and SIMs that were not linked to NIN.
- Since December 2023, the Commission has reviewed the deadline a few times; April 15, 2024, was set as the deadline for the full network barring subscribers with four or fewer SIMs that had unverified NIN details.
- This deadline was then reviewed to July 31, 2024, to give consumers more time to ensure their submitted NIN details are properly verified. Despite these extensions, many phone lines are yet to be linked with verified NINs.
