The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed the telecom operators to extend the NIN-SIM verification deadline beyond July 31, 2024.
The commission had last week directed the telecom operators to reactivate mobile lines barred due to NIN-SIM verification issues.
Many telecom subscribers/consumers had been barred from accessing their phone lines because of their inability to verify their National Identification Numbers (NINs) with their Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs).
This meant that their numbers were blocked by their telecom service providers in keeping with laws and policies of the NIN-SIM linkage.
The compulsory linkage of NIN with SIM, which began in December 2020 when the government directed telecommunication companies to bar unregistered SIM cards and SIMs that were not linked to NIN was scheduled to end July 31, 2024, after several deadline reviews.