Michael Onwuka, Enugu
The Federal Government has directed telecommunications companies in the country to bar outgoing calls on unlinked Subscriber Identification Module, otherwise called, SIM cards, effective April 4.
The directive is contained in a statement jointly signed by the Director, Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, and Head, Corporate Communications, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Mr Kayode Adegoke.
Recall that the Federal Government had in December 2020, as part of its security and social policies, directed Nigerians and legal residents to link their National Identification Numbers (NIN) to their SIM cards.
The deadlines for the NIN-SIM linkage were extended on multiple occasions to allow Nigerians and legal residents to freely comply with the policy.
However, the statement pointed out that government had determined that the NIN-SIM Policy implementation could proceed, adding that machinery had been put in place to ensure compliance.
It stated that the implementation impacted on government’s strategic planning, particularly in the areas of security and socio-economic projections.
The statement read in part: “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,” it stated.
The statement advised those who had yet to comply to register for their NINs at designated centers and, thereafter, link their SIMs through the channels provided by NIMC and the Telcos, including the NIMC mobile App.
It said that enrolment for the NIN was a continuous exercise and NIN was a precondition for service in Telcos, banks, Nigerian Immigration Service, and for several other government services.
Ikengaonline reports that no fewer than 125 million SIMs have had their NINs submitted for immediate linkage, verification and authentication while NIMC has issued over 78 million unique NINs till date.
