The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) has directed the telecom industry to ensure that all SIMs without a National Identity Number (NIN) be blocked by December 30, 2020.
A statement signed by NCC director public affairs Dr Ikechukwu Adinde partly read, “Following the earlier directive on the suspension of new SIM registration by network operators, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami convened an urgent meeting of key stakeholders in the Communications industry on Monday, December 14, 2020. The meeting had in attendance Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Management of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) as well as CEOs and management staff of all service providers in the industry.
“At the meeting, the need to consolidate the achievements of last year’s SIM registration audit and improve the performance and sanity of the sector was exhaustively discussed and all stakeholders agreed that urgent drastic measures have now become inevitable to improve the integrity and transparency of the SIM registration process.”
The statement further added that a ministerial task force comprising the minister and all the CEOs (among others) as members is to monitor compliance by all networks.
“Violations of this directive will be met by stiff sanctions, including the possibility of withdrawal of operating license,
“The general public is hereby urged to ensure that their NINs are captured in their SIM registration data. All inconveniences which might be occasioned by this directive are deeply regretted,” the statement added.