*Any telecom subscriber who fails to submit his/her National Identity Number (NIN) to his/her network provider would be blocked from the network effective December 31, 2020, says Nigerian Communications Commission

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Following the recent directive to the telecom firms to stop further registration of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards in the country, the Federal Government of Nigeria has said that any telecom subscriber who fails to submit his/her National Identity Number (NIN) to his/her network provider would be blocked from the network effective from December 31, 2020.

The latest announcement is considered part of the decisions reached at a stakeholders’ meeting convened by Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, Honourable Minister for Communications and Digital Economy.

Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, Director, Public Affairs of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), said this in a statement he signed and issued in Abuja, FCT.

It was gathered the meeting discussed the need to consolidate the achievements of last year’s SIM registration audit and improve the performance and sanity of the sector of the economy.

All stakeholders agreed that urgent measures have now become inevitable to improve the integrity and transparency of the SIM registration process in Nigeria.

The NCC stressed the decisions taken for immediate implementation by all network operators include “affirmation of the earlier directive to totally suspend the registration of new SIMs by all operators.

“Operators to require all their subscribers to provide valid National Identification Number (NIN) to update SIM registration records.

“The submission of NIN by subscribers to take place within two weeks (from today December 16, 2020, and end by 30 December 2020).

The statement noted that “after the deadline, all SIMs without NINs are to be blocked from the networks.”

The Director of Public Affairs of NCC further stated: “A Ministerial Task Force comprising the minister and all the CEOs (among others) as members is to monitor compliance by all networks.

“Violations of this directive will be met by sanctions, including the possibility of withdrawal of operating licence.”

The meeting had in attendance the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Management of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), as well as the CEOs and management staff of all service providers in the industry.

The NCC urged the telecom consumers to ensure that their NINs are captured in their SIM registration data.