Nigeria: NCC directs network operators to update SIM cards with NIN by Dec 30

The National Communications Commission (NCC), Nigeria has directed the given network operators to block SIM cards that are not registered with the National Identity Numbers (NIN), according to a report by Naija News.

As per the report, the subscribers who are not registered with NIN are provided with a duration of two weeks to enroll and update their records.

The report said that NIN, a non-intelligible randomly chosen 11 digits number is assigned to an individual user by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) after it being enrolled into the National Identity Database (NIDB).

It said, that by maintaining the database of an individual's records NIN establishes and verifies ones' identity.

As noted by Ikechukwu Adinde, the NCC Director of Public Affairs, NCC has ordered a period between 16 December 2020 to 30 December 2020, for the NIN update of SIM cards.

In relation to the new SIM registration rules, NCC took it to Twitter;

PRESS STATEMENT IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW SIM REGISTRATION RULESLink: https://t.co/v7ug1WEHSR pic.twitter.com/P7pm92OwTd

— ncc.gov.ng (@NgComCommission) December 15, 2020

Captioned "IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW SIM REGISTRATION RULES" reads in part, "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".