The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has reaffirmed that the deadline to deactivate telephone lines lacking National Identity Numbers NIN remains February 28th.
This was disclosed by Reuben Mouka, director of public affairs at NCC, on Monday. This is a follow-up to its April 2022 directive, when the commission directed telcos to restrict outgoing calls on SIMs that have not submitted their NINs.
Mouka said, “I am unaware of any extension and certain there won’t be. I don’t know what to say, but the fact is that there is no change in that deadline. The deadline, which is February 28, stands.”
Meanwhile, the Federal High Court in Lagos has restrained telecom operators from deactivating or barring any line or SIM not linked to their NINs.
Channels TV reported that Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa restrained the telcos while ruling on an application filed by a Lagos-based lawyer, Olukoya Ogungbeje.
In April 2022, Ogungbeje filed a suit against MTN when his SIMs were barred, and the court, at the time, dismissed his suit for lack of merit. He filed an appeal, which is currently pending at the court of appeal.
Ogungbeje had sued the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Minister of Justice; MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, and Airtel Networks Nigeria Limited.
Ogungbeje has now asked the court for an injunction pending appeal, restraining all the respondents, Federal Government of Nigeria, the Attorney General of the Federation, and Minister of Justice; MTN Nigeria Communications Plc and Airtel Networks Nigeria Limited from further outright barring, deactivating and or restricting any SIM cards or phone lines on Feb. 28, 2024, or any other scheduled date, pending the hearing and determination of his appeal at the Court of Appeal of Nigeria.
Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa granted the lawyer’s request and restrained the telcos. The Justice also ruled that his order subsists until the hearing and determination of the appeal filed by the lawyer.
In a December 2023 notice, the NCC asked telcos to bar SIMs that have not submitted their NINs by February 28, 2024, bar those whose NINs have been submitted but not verified by March 29, 2024; and bar those who have less than five lines linked to an unverified NIN by April 15, 2024.
It noted that all affected subscribers must be verified (biometrics and biodata) before their lines get unbarred. As these deadlines loom, telecom subscribers have asked the Federal Government for an extension, especially for the first one.
The president of the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers, Adeolu Ogunbanjo, disclosed that a one-month extension will ensure more people can get their NINs and link their SIMs before the deadline.
“We want them to extend the deadline to March 31. There are still queues at NIMC centres. These centres are trying, but they can’t attend to everyone,” he said.
The NCC’s directive to restrict outgoing calls in April 2022 affected over 72.77 million active mobile subscriptions. About 125 million lines had been linked to a NIN at that time. Since then, the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC has not updated the number of SIMs linked to a NIN.
