The Federal Government has directed Telecommunication companies in the country to bar all outgoing calls on Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMS) not yet registered and linked with the National Identification Number (NIN) by users from Monday, 4th April, 2022.

The directive was announced in a statement jointly signed by the Director of Public Affairs at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Ikechukwu Adinde, and the Head of Corporate Communications at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Mr Kayode Adegoke.

According to the statement, over 125 million SIMs, have had their NINs submitted for linkage, verification, and authentication and NIMC has issued over 78 million unique NINs to date.

FG explained that NIN-SIM linkage had been extended on multiple occasions to allow Nigerians to freely comply with the policy.

It added that the enrolment for NIN was a continuous exercise as it was a precondition for service in telecommunication companies, banks, Nigerian Immigration Service, and several other government agencies.

At least 72.8 million subscribers risk being disconnected from telecommunication services following the latest directive, according to NCC.

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, on behalf of the Federal Government, has commended Nigerians and legal residents for their support during the exercise to link the National Identification Number (NIN) to the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM).

Story: Asma’u Sani

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