The Nigerian Communication Commission has lifted the ban on SIM purchase and registration following the ban on SIM Card purchase and registration, which lasted for over six months.
In the last couple of weeks, the government have announced that the new deadline for end users to link their National Identification Numbers (NINs) to their SIM cards is May 6. We’ve had over three deadlines imposed by the federal government on linking on SIM cards to NIN.
The suspension of SIM card registration in Nigeria began in late 2020, at the same time government issued dureetuvesy regarding NINs and SIM cards.
The ban upon new SIM registration in Nigeria was intended to allow the Nigerian Communication Commission to carry out a complex record of all SIM users across Nigeria, and to track down multiple SIM registrations and fraudulent activities.
This in turn, it was hoped that it would encourage registration. But now, the ministry has announced in a directive that it released late last week, “a reused national digital identity policy” that permits the registration of new SIM cards.
This will come as a relief to many people, and in particular, small business owners, who have been unable to buy a SIM card since late last year.
Meanwhile, a huge number of Nigerians have linked their NIN to their SIM cards after a number of postponed deadlines by the government.