The telecom regulator had urged customers to visit their service providers as soon as possible to amend their information before the deadline if they had not yet finished their NIN-SIM linkage or were experiencing problems because of verification mismatches.
219 million active lines across mobile networks including MTN, Glo, Airtel, and 9mobile were reported by the NCC as of March 2024; 153 million of those phones were already connected to NIN. This puts about 66 million disconnected lines in danger of being disconnected.
Due to unverified NINs, millions of lines were briefly blocked between July 28 and 29, resulting in significant disruptions across the nation. Reversing its own ruling, the NCC gave subscribers additional time to comply. But now that the deadline has passed, disconnections will start.
The grace period has ended, and we will disconnect anyone who disobeys. We previously extended because of a misunderstanding held by certain Nigerians, who said that the NCC intended to thwart the August 1 protest.
The representative made it clear that the commission does not intend to disconnect subscribers on purpose. For a variety of reasons, a sizable portion of Nigerians have chosen not to connect their SIM cards to their NINs.
Even when the Centers might be facing difficulties, it is still vital to go over and finish the procedure. To be clear, there won’t be any more extensions,” the representative said.
A few weeks prior, users bemoaned the difficulties they were having entering their information into the National Identity Management Commission website.
Adeolu Ogungbanjo, the president of the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers, visited several telecom hubs, including MTN and Airtel, and called the state of affairs “terrible.”
He previously informed our correspondent that the NIN-SIM linkage cannot be completed on time due to the current portal issues, and he said, “Subscribers will struggle to meet the deadline without immediate action.”
He begged that the NCC take into account extending the deadline because of the technological problems that plagued the registration procedure last week.
The NCC and NIMC tightened their collaboration in March in an effort to expedite the NIN-SIM connection procedure. To assist citizens in adhering to the directions, both authorities initiated stakeholder training, public awareness programs, and the transmission of factual information.
Financial data from the first half of 2024 shows that 13.5 million lines were blocked by MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa for breaking the NIN-SIM linking directive.
MTN announced it had blocked 8.6 million connections, while Airtel stated that 8.7 million of its clients had completed verification.
Beginning in December 2020, when the government ordered telcos to ban unregistered SIMs and those without NIN linkages, SIM cards have to be linked to NINs.
