NCC Directs Mobile Operators to Block Lines Without NIN As From 31 December 2020

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has instructed mobile operators in the country, MTN, Airtel, Glo and 9 Mobile, to block all SIMs without National Identity Numbers (NINs) from their networks as from 31 December 2020.

This directive was contained in a press statement published on Tuesday, December 15 on the NCC website.

According to the Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, Director, Public Affairs in the press statement, all telecoms subscribers in the country are enjoined to submit their NINs to update SIM registration records within two weeks (from today December 16, 2020 to 30 December 2020).

This follows the earlier directive from the telecoms regulator to the network operators to suspend the registration of new SIMs. NCC said it wants to embark on another audit of the Subscriber Registration Database again.

It said that the objective of the audit exercise was to verify and ensure compliance by Mobile Network Operators with the set quality standards and requirements of SIM Card Registration as issued by the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and the Commission.

While the objective of this directive has been commended by many stakeholders, the timing as however been described as "unrealistic" and might really cause a lot of inconveniences for subscribers in general.

All other institutions such as the banks, Pension Funds Administrators (PFAs), Immigration etc, also want to enforce the submission of NINs to improve profiling.