New Telegraph

NIN: FG orders telcos to bar unlinked lines

.says 125m lines linked so far

 

Samson Akintaro

 

The Federal Government has directed telecommunications operators in the country to bar outgoing calls on all lines that have not been linked with National Identification Number (NIN). The order, which takes effect from Monday, means that those that are yet to link their lines will no longer be able to make calls but can still receive calls.

The government had come up with the mandatory NIN-SIM linkage exercise on December 9, 2020, with a deadline of December 31st, 2020 for all subscribers to comply or get blocked from the networks. It has, however, extended the deadline several times since then. At the expiration of the last deadline on March 31st, 2022, the government had declared another extension by ‘a few days’, which has now lapsed.

According to a statement jointly signed by the Director of Public Affairs of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, and the Head of Corporate Communications of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Mr. Kayode Adegoke, the enforcement of the ban was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.

“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,” the statement read.

Subscribers of such lines are advised to link their SIMs to their NINs before the telcos can lift the restriction on their lines.

“Affected individuals are hereby advised to register for their NINs at designated centres and thereafter link the NINs to their SIMs through the channels provided by NIMC and the Telcos, including the NIMC mobile App,” the government added.

The statement further disclosed that as of date, over 125 Million SIMs have been submitted for immediate linkage, verification, and authentication, while NIMC has issued over 78 Million unique NINs to date.

While noting that the deadlines for the NIN-SIM linkage have been extended on multiple occasions to allow Nigerians to freely comply with the policy, the government in the statement said it 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,” it stated.

Read Previous

Zelensky accuses Russia of genocide in Ukraine

Read Next

JUST IN: Elon Musk snaps up $3bn Twitter stake

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *