The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has ordered telecommunication operators to immediately reconnect all phone lines that were blocked as part of the NIN-SIM verification exercise.
The NCC gave the directive in a statement on Monday.
Over the weekend many Nigerians were unable to access their phone lines due to their “inability to verify” the linkage of “their national identification numbers (NINs) with their subscriber identification modules (SIMs)”.
This meant that their numbers were blocked by their telecom service providers in keeping with the country’s NIN-SIM linkage policy.
The NIN-SIM linkage policy began in December 2020 when the federal government directed telecommunication companies to bar unregistered SIM cards and SIMs that were not linked to NINs.
Since December 2023, the NCC has reviewed the deadline a few times, but April 15, 2024, was set as the deadline for the full network barring of subscribers with four or fewer SIMs that had unverified NIN details.
However, the deadline was later reviewed to July 31, 2024, “to give consumers more time to ensure their submitted NIN details are properly verified”.
Despite these extensions, many phone lines are yet to be linked with verified NINs, the commission said in the statement on Monday.
“The objectives of this exercise by the Federal Government of Nigeria include enhancing national security and ensuring the national SIM ownership database is accurate. The NIN-SIM linkage policy aids in verifying and protecting users’ identities while also providing a critical infrastructure that assures access to the benefits of a robust digital economy for the citizenry,” the NCC said.
“The consumer is our priority, therefore, considering the challenges the blockages have caused, the Commission has directed all operators to reactivate all lines that were disconnected over the weekend in view of the short time available for consumers to undertake the verification of their NINs with their SIMs.
“Reactivated consumers are to note that this is for a limited period to allow them to properly link their NIN to their SIM.”
The NCC urged members of the public who are yet to verify their SIMs to do so “as soon as possible to maintain access to their lines”.
