By Francesca Hangeior
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has explained why some telecommunications subscribers who previously linked their SIM cards to their National Identification Numbers (NINs) have their mobile lines barred.
The NCC last week issued a directive to telecom service providers to bar subscribers who have failed to link their phone numbers to their NIN on or before February 28, 2024.
NCC spokesman, Reuben Muoka, who spoke on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief programme on Monday, said some SIM cards have verification and identification issues like disparity in information such as names and other data.
He said: “People who probably didn’t get a cleared or verified NIN” have been barred because “the earlier ones they submitted were not good.
“There are still some subscribers whose NINs are yet to be verified by NIMC and those have to also be corrected.”
Many subscribers have complained they had previously linked their NIN with their SIM cards years ago but the NCC official said some lines were barred because the information on the NIN did not tally with what the customers registered with their SIM cards.
He said subscribers will have to visit the outlets of their service providers to validate their NINs and resolve other matters.
“For now, it requires those physical visits to the stations to get it verified and validated but in the future, we hope that this will be done virtually.”
“Take it that everybody who has not submitted his NIN to the service providers has been barred. Actually, the service providers are starting to bar people many days before the deadline,” he said.
Muoka said it will be difficult to tell the actual number of phone lines that have been barred but the NCC will do an audit before the end of the week as data is expected from service providers.
He said the NIN-SIM linkage has an objective which is to give Nigerians have digital identity to tackle security matters.
“The whole essence is actually to achieve the convenience that digital services and products will offer. By the time you have your identity together, you will be able to attend to many things.
“Even the banks are now asking their customers to link their NINs to their Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs). It is actually to make a holistic package of all your digital services,” he stated.