The Nigerian Communications Commission has given directives to telecom operators to extend the NIN-SIM verification deadline beyond July 31, 2024.
A senior NCC official confirmed, citing the current state of affairs in the nation as the reason for the deadline extension, according to Daily Trust.
The commission had last week instructed the telecom operators to unblock mobile lines barred due to NIN-SIM verification issues.
Due to their inability to utilize their Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs) to validate their National Identification Numbers (NINs), a large number of telecom subscribers and consumers had been denied access to their phone lines.
As a result, their numbers were blocked by their telecom service providers in compliance with laws and policies of the NIN-SIM linkage.
The official who pleaded anonymity because they had not been authorised to speak with the media on the matter said “The situation might prevent the telecom subscribers from accessing the telecom operators’ shops to do their SIM-NIN verification.
“I don’t know when exactly the new deadline will be, they (operators) have been directed not to bar any line until the new deadline is communicated to them”, the official told our reporter.”
However, The NCC’s spokesman, Reuben Mouka could not be reached yesterday afternoon as his line was not connecting.
The mandatory linkage of NIN with SIM, which commenced in December 2020 when the federal government directed telecommunication companies to block unregistered SIM cards and SIMs that were not linked to NIN was slated to end July 31, 2024, following several deadline reviews.
