Approximately 65 million mobile phone lines in Nigeria are at risk of disconnection following the refusal of telecom operators to extend the deadline for linking the National Identification Number (NIN) with Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards.
The final deadline, which expired on September 14, 2024, was set by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), indicating that no SIM card would remain active without a verified NIN as of September 15.
Recent estimates suggest that around one million lines could not have been linked between the NCC’s deadline announcement and the cut-off date. According to NCC data from March 2024, there were 219 million active lines across major networks, including MTN, Glo, Airtel, and 9mobile, with 153 million already linked to NINs. This leaves approximately 66 million lines unlinked after the deadline announcement.
Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria, dismissed the idea of extending the deadline and confirmed that the disconnection process has already begun. “It’s difficult to provide exact numbers for the lines disconnected so far, but it’s certainly less than 66 million because, even on the day of the deadline, people were still linking their SIMs,” Adebayo noted. He emphasized that mobile operators are following the NCC’s directives, describing the deadline as “acceptable and reasonable.”
In contrast, the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers has called for an extension of the deadline. The association’s President urged the NCC to push the deadline to September 22, suggesting that customer experience centers operate over the weekend to help subscribers address any registration issues on the NIN portal. “Given the technical glitches that persisted for almost a week earlier, it’s only fair that the NCC allows subscribers to make up for the lost time,” he stated.
Adeolu Ogungbanjo, President of the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers, expressed concerns about ongoing challenges in linking NIN to SIM cards. He highlighted frustrations over slow speeds and congestion on the NIMC portal, warning that these issues could prevent successful completion of the NIN-SIM linkage before the deadline.
Earlier this month, millions of lines were temporarily barred due to unverified NINs, causing significant disruptions across the country. The NCC had initially reversed its decision, giving subscribers additional time to comply. However, with the deadline now expired, disconnections are set to commence.
An anonymous NCC official indicated that there would be no further extensions. “We will disconnect anyone who refuses to comply; the grace period is over,” the official stated, referencing previous misconceptions that led to a temporary extension.
In a collaborative effort to enhance the NIN-SIM linkage process, the NIMC and the NCC have been working together. According to their first-half 2024 financial results, MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa collectively barred 13.5 million lines due to non-compliance with the linkage directive, with MTN reporting 8.6 million blocked lines and Airtel stating that 4.8 million lines remained unverified.
