NIN-SIM connection: Do not block subscriber from their networks until Feb 9- Pres. Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed that no subscribers should be barred from the networks of telecom operators until 9 February 2021.

Subscribers, who called for further extension, would have blocked their lines on January 19, the initial deadline for them to connect their SIMs to their national identity number, NINN,

On 15 December 2020, the Federal Government announced that all SIMs not registered with valid NINs on the telecommunications companies' network will be blocked after 30 December 2020. It later extended the deadline following widespread opposition to the earlier announcement and extended the date from 30 December 2020 to 19 January 2021 for subscribers with NIN for three weeks.

It also gave an extension of six weeks from 30 December 2020 to 9 February 2021 for subscribers without NIN.

Before the January deadline, however, many telephone users and associations called for a further extension of the deadline or a full suspension of the NIN registration process due to the large number of individuals who have yet to obtain their NINs.

Nigeria at the expiration of the 19 January deadline, Nigerians went into panic mode at the expiry of the 19 January deadline, following consistent statements by Dr Ibrahim Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, that those who did not meet the deadline would be blocked.

Yesterday, by suspending the blocking of lines from the 19 January deadline defaulters to 0 February, the federal government yielded to the cry of the people

A statement by ALTON, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, in a press statement said it was official that until 9 February 2021, no subscribers will be blocked from their networks.

The Chairman's signed statement, Engr. "Gbenga Adebayo and Secretary of Publicity Damian Udeh said "ALTON can confirm to our members that we have received formal confirmation for our membership from the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, that President Muhammadu Buhari has graciously approved an extension of the deadline for NIN subscribers to link it to their SIM registration data from 19 January to 19 January," said Gbenga Adebayo and Publicity Secretary Damian Udeh.

We are grateful to the President for giving us more time to deliver on this important task of building a credible national identity database for the nation. We are also grateful to Dr. Isa Ibrahim Ali Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, for his commitment to enabling the digital economy.

In order to be able to use the extension duration judiciously, ALTON also used the opportunity to charge all telecom subscribers who have a NIN to connect it to their SIM cards via available channels as soon as possible.