Telecommunications subscribers in Nigeria are urging mobile network operators and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to extend the deadline for linking National Identity Numbers (NIN) and Subscriber Identity/Identification Modules (SIMs) by an additional 30 days.
Adeolu Ogunbanjo, the National President of the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS), revealed this in a telephone interview with DAILY POST on Wednesday. He emphasized that subscribers require extra time to complete the NIN-SIM linkage process to avoid potential disconnection by their mobile network operators.
“It is a terrible time for telecom subscribers in Nigeria as the NIN-SIM linkage deadline expired on February 28. I want to use this medium to appeal to operators and NCC to give subscribers an additional 30-day grace period,” he said.
It is worth recalling that, in December, telecom operators, following NCC directives, insisted on the February 28 deadline for barring subscribers without NIN-SIM linkage. The regulatory move was cited as necessary to address the escalating insecurity in the country.
In December 2020, Isa Pantami, the former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, announced the policy of integrating SIM cards into the NIN database.
