Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has urged telecoms subscribers to link their National Identity Numbers (NINs) with their Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) before the expiration of the October 31, 2021, deadline.
The Commission gave the admonition during the NCC Digital Signature (NDS) radio programme, which hosted the 2nd episode of Telecoms Consumer Town Hall on Radio (TCTHR) in Lagos to discuss the benefits of NIN-SIM integration.
Speaking during the live programme, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, director, Public Affairs, NCC, encouraged Nigerians to make use of the extension of the NIN-SIM integration exercise to enrol with NIMC, get their NIN and link it to their SIMs.
He made known that soon, people without NIN will be denied necessary services such as the acquisition of a driver’s license and international passport among others.
Efosa Idehen, director, Consumer Affairs Bureau of NCC, pointed out that SIMs without unique identification could be used to commit crimes that remain untraceable. He, therefore, urged telecoms consumers to enrol with NIMC to get their NIN and link the same with their SIM to avoid denial of essential services in future.
Funmi Opesanwo, regional director, NIMC, Lagos, who also spoke on the programme explained that NIN will become the first layer of verifying everything about a citizen, stating that other relevant databases in other sectors of the economy are being integrated into the NIMC database for proper harmonization.
