The Federal Government has announced an extension of the deadline for linking Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) to National Identification Numbers (NINs). This decision comes after telecom operators refused to grant subscribers an extension to the previous September 14, 2024 deadline.
The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), the telecom regulator, had initially expected that all SIM cards would be deactivated without a verified NIN from September 15.
However, analysis suggests that approximately 65 million lines remained at risk, as an estimated one million lines could not have been linked during the period between the NCC’s deadline announcement and the actual cut-off date.
The telecom regulator’s data from March 2024 shows there were 219 million active lines across major networks such as MTN, Glo, Airtel, and 9mobile, with 153 million linked to NINs.
This means that about 66 million lines were unlinked to NIN after the NCC’s deadline announcement.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, discarded the idea of a deadline extension and confirmed on Monday that the disconnection process is already ongoing.
“It’s difficult to provide exact numbers for the lines disconnected so far, but it’s certainly less than 66 million because, even on the day of the deadline, people were still linking their SIMs,” Adebayo said.
He affirmed that mobile operators were adhering to the NCC’s directives, describing the deadline as “acceptable and reasonable.”
Adebayo urged subscribers to comply, stating, “We can’t keep extending deadlines and going back and forth on this issue. This is a national concern, and these data are critical for national development.”
However, the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers urged the NCC to extend the deadline.
The President of the association appealed to the NCC to push the deadline to September 22, allowing customer experience centres to operate over the weekend.
He said this would enable subscribers to resolve any registration issues on the NIN portal and avoid potential disruptions to telecom services.
“Given the NIN portal’s technical glitches that persisted for almost a week earlier, and the improvements made last week, it’s only fair that the NCC allows subscribers to make up for the lost time. This extension will provide a much-needed buffer for subscribers to resolve any registration issues,” he said.
Barely two weeks ago, the President of the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers, Adeolu Ogungbanjo, expressed worry that there were challenges in linking NIN to SIM cards, with many subscribers expressing frustration over slow speeds and congestion on the NIMC portal.
Ogunbanjo emphasised that the current portal issues hinder the successful completion of the NIN-SIM linkage before the deadline, stating, “The current situation will not meet the deadline if not addressed urgently.”
“Millions of lines were temporarily barred due to unverified NINs between July 28 and 29, causing widespread disruptions in the country. Although the NCC reversed its decision and granted subscribers additional time to comply, disconnections will now commence as the deadline has expired.
Prior to the deadline, an NCC official, who requested anonymity due to authorization restrictions, dismissed the possibility of any further extensions.”
“We will disconnect anyone who refuses to comply; the grace period is over. The reason why we extended the last time was the misconception of Nigerians who claimed that the NCC wanted to frustrate the August 1 protest.”
In March, the NIMC and the NCC formed a strategic collaboration in a move at enhancing processes related to the NIN-SIM linkage.
According to their financial results for the first half of 2024, due to non-compliance with the NIN-SIM linkage directive, MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa collectively barred 13.5 million lines.
Contrary to earlier reports claiming 8.7 million verifications had been completed, MTN Nigeria reported blocking 8.6 million lines, while Airtel Africa stated that 4.8 million lines remained unverified.
The mandatory NIN-SIM linkage policy, implemented in December 2020, sought to eliminate unregistered SIMs and those without NIN links.
Despite multiple deadline extensions by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), April 15, 2024, was initially set as the final deadline for barring subscribers with four or fewer SIMs that had unverified NIN details.
This article was written by Tamaraebiju Jide, a student at Elizade University
