Soon, only holders of the national identity card issued by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) shall be qualified to register for new SIM card.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) which made this known on Friday said mechanism is being put in place to realise the new demand in line with the NIMC 2007 Act and the subsequent regulation released in 2017.
The Commission said the regulation “provides that a person must provide his or her National Identity Number (NIN) in order to register a telephone SIM card”.
The new NCC requirement was disclosed by the Commission’s Executive Vice Chairman, Professor Umar Danbatta, while speaking at the 2019 annual conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) event held in Lagos.
GOCOP has over the years remained a segment of NCC’s broad media stakeholders, who have continually disseminated its activities –policies, programmes and decisions- to its various stakeholders.
Danbatta, who was represented by the Commission’s Head of Online Media, Omoniyi Ibietan, said in order to realize the new regulation, the NCC is collaborating with all stakeholders to set in motion mechanisms for compliance.
Danbatta said that the NCC engages in continuous verification exercise of the SIM data collected by the Mobile Network Operators (MNO) and their SIM registration agents across the country to deliver on its mandate so as to ensure that the Commission has credible subscriber data.
The EVC has therefore, counseled those who want to acquire new SIM cards to go and get their NIN as the first step to acquiring the SIM card, saying that the Commission was committed to using telecoms to support the current tripartite agenda of the federal government, which are to improve the economy, enhance security of lives and property and to fight corruption in the society.
The NCC at the event also reiterated the contribution of the telecom sector to the growth of the Nigerian economy, saying the sector has contributed over 13.8 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2019.
Danbatta, said teledensity has reached 91.65 per cent with a number of telephone lines reaching 175 million, and internet users at 122.6 million, while cumulative investment peaking at $70 billion.
