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BREAKING: Nigerian govt tells telcos to bar outgoing calls not linked to NIN
The Nigerian government has called on telecommunications companies in the country to bar outgoing calls not linked to any National Identification Number (NIN).
Nigerians yet to register their sims and link with the National Identification Number (NIN) would no longer be able to make outgoing calls from today (April 4, 2022) as the Federal Government moves to clampdown on unregistered sims.
This was revealed in a joint statement released on Monday by the director, public affairs of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Ikechukwu Adinde and the head, corporate communications, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Kayode Adegoke.
Ripples Nigeria had reported that the NIN-SIM linkage exercise had began in December 2020, and was recently extended for few days to enable last minute registration.
It was gathered that MTN Nigeria, Globacom, Airtel, 9mobile received directive to block outgoing calls on the unregistered sims. The number of affected subscribers is yet to be ascertained.
The statement further reads, “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.”
In the joint statement, they further said, “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.”
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