Court bars Nigerian govt from blocking SIM cards over NIN

The Federal High Court, Lagos, has barred the Federal Government from blocking Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards not linked to National Identity Numbers (NINs) by April.

The Federal Government had last year ordered Nigerians to link their SIM cards to NINs by December 31, 2020.

The exercise was later extended till April 9.

Justice M.A. Onyetenu gave the order on March 23 while ruling on an originating motion filed by a former Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Monday Ubani.

The court’s ruling was made available to journalists on Tuesday.

READ ALSO: Again, Nigerian govt extends NIN-SIM linkage by two months

The judge ordered that the deadline be extended by two months from the day of the judgment.

In the originating motion, Ubani asked the court to stop the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) from disconnecting all SIM cards not linked to NINs.

He also sought an order of the court extending the deadline.

The Federal Government, Attorney General of the Federation, the NCC, and the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy were listed as respondents in the suit.

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