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The Federal Government has ordered telecommunications companies to immediately bar all outgoing calls for Nigerians who have not linked their Subscribers Identity Modules( SIM) with their National Identity Numbers( NIN).
The FG said the enforcement of the directive begins from Monday, April 4, 2022.
This according to the government was necessary to address the growing insecurity in the country.
The government said in order to ensure Nigerians and resident citizens were captured in the database of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), it shifted the enforcement of the policy multiple times.
In a statement signed by the Director of Public Affairs of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde and the Director of Corporate Communications of NIMC, Mr Kayode Adegoke, the FG said 125 million SIMs have so far been linked with NIN.
The statement reads: “On behalf of the Federal Government, the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, 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).
” As of date, over 125 Million SIMs have had their NINs submitted for immediate linkage, verification and authentication. Similarly, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued over 78 Million unique NINs till date.
“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”.
The FG, therefore, advised affected individuals 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.