Streamlining NIN-SIM Linkage

The ongoing NIN-SIM linkage exercise and the deactivation of all unverified and unlinked SIM cards has become a recurring decimal, with stakeholders calling for measures to streamline the process, reports Emma Okonji 

The emphasis on proper registration of Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards, the compulsory registration of National Identification Number (NIN) and its verification, as well as the NIN-SIM linkage exercise, commenced in 2011, to address the huge anomalies created by fraudsters that took undue advantage of the loopholes in the entire ecosystem, a development that negates security architecture of Nigeria.     

Since the commencement of the exercise in 2011, the federal government, through its agencies, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), has initiated several campaign measures, aimed at sensitising telecoms subscribers, on the need for proper SIM registration, NIN registration and NIN-SIM linkage to address national security across the country. 

Initial Timelines 

The federal government, on February 14, 2011, commenced SIM card registration exercises across the country and ended it in September 2011. After eight years since the SIM card registration exercise officially ended, the federal government, in September 2019, directed NCC to block SIM cards that did not meet registration standards. On February 4, 2020, the federal government directed NCC and NIMC to begin NIN-SIM registration and linkage, and on December 9, 2020, the government ordered NCC to direct telecoms operators to stop the sale and registration of new SIM cards, and thereafter, gave December 30, 2020, as the deadline for NIN-SIM linkage. Following the outcry from Nigerian telecoms subscribers who could not meet the initial deadline because of the festivity period of Christmas, the federal government, for the first time, extended the deadline from December 30, 2020, to February 19, 2021. According to the directive, NIN-SIM linkage was extended by three weeks from December 30, 2020, to January 19, 2021, for subscribers with NIN and from December 30, 2020, to February 19, 2021, for subscribers without NIN. On April 19, 2021, the government directed that all new SIM cards to be activated must be activated with NIN. But before the end of the February 19 deadline, the government, for the second time, extended NIN-SIM linkage by eight weeks to give citizens more time for the exercise and decided to put the new deadline on April 6, 2021. But following a Federal High Court order, the federal government, for the third time, extended the deadline again to May 23, 2021. 

For the fourth time, the federal government again extended the deadline for NIN-SIM linkage to June 30, 2021, and there was another extension for the fifth time, to July 26, 2021. Again, for the sixth time, the government extended the NIN-SIM linkage exercise to October 31, 2021, following a request by industry stakeholders to accommodate registration in hard-to-reach remote areas and to address enrolment in schools and hospitals. For the seventh time, the federal government, again extended the NIN-SIM linkage and verification exercise and the new deadline was March 31, 2022. 

On April 4, 2022, the federal government, through the NCC, gave the directive for the barring of all lines not linked to NIN, and that was the first time that the government implemented the barring of incoming calls on all unlinked SIMS since the policy came into place in 2020. Finally, NCC ordered telecom operators (Telcos), to block SIMs without NIN by February 28, 2024, where 42 million SIMS were blocked in five days. 

New Timelines

Following the successful implementation of the first phase of disconnection of 42 million SIM cards that were not linked to NIN, the NCC last week, also directed the Telcos to begin another round of SIM disconnection on March 29 and April 15, 2024. 

The March 29 disconnection, which began last Friday, focused on telecoms subscribers that have more than five registered SIM cards that are attached to unverified NIN, while the April 15 disconnection exercise will focus on subscribers that have less than five registered SIM cards that are attached to unverified NIN. 

The February 28 disconnection exercise, where 42 million SIM cards were disconnected in five days, was focused on subscribers whose SIM cards were connected to devices such as MiFi and tablets but were not linked to their NIN. 

The Impact 

Although the policy implementation for the barring of SIM cards that are not properly registered on the telecoms’ networks and the SIM cards that are not linked to NIN, comes with its positive and negative impact, the positive impact far outweighed that of the negative.

A reliable source from NCC, who confirmed the fresh rounds of disconnection, told THISDAY that the ongoing disconnection exercise will turn out to be massive because several subscribers have not been able to link their SIM cards to their National Identification Number (NIN). The source also said the disconnection exercise would help address several anomalies in the NIN enrolment and NIN-SIM linkage exercise. 

THISDAY investigation into the anomalies showed that there were massive duplications of SIM cards and multiple NINS traced to single individuals, where a single individual could register as many as 10,000 SIM cards with multiple NINs, a development that negates the security architecture of the country, while some individuals registered as much as 1,000 SIM cards above with multiple NINs. NCC however said the 1,000 and 10,000 registered SIM cards with multiple NINs that were traced to single individuals had since been barred.   

NCC, therefore, urged telecoms subscribers who are yet to link their SIMs to their NIN, to do so, to avoid disconnection.

For the negative impact, the implementation exercise is already affecting the revenue generation of telecoms operators who continue to lose huge amounts of money from valued customers as a result of the ongoing SIM disconnection.

Some of the operators told THISDAY that they suffered huge revenue losses from disconnecting their valued customers who could not link their SIM cards to their NIN because of network challenges emanating from the backend of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC). 

THISDAY gathered that telecom operators have individually and collectively, financed network equipment for NIMC to enable it to carry out NIN-SIM linkage verification, yet millions of subscribers still find it difficult to link their SIMs to their NIN because of network issues from NIMC.          

Disturbed by the continued revenue loss due to the ongoing SIM disconnection, the Chairman of, the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), who is also the spokesperson for telecoms operators, Gbenga Adebayo, told THISDAY that telecoms operators have approached the NCC, asking for more extension of the deadline for SIM disconnection. 

THISDAY, however, learnt that the NCC may give some considerations to telecoms operators who have empirical data to show that their subscribers who have not been able to link their SIM cards to their NIN have made several efforts to do so, but encountered some network resistance. 

The Weak Link 

Industry stakeholders have identified NIMC as the weak link in the entire NIN registration and NIN-SIM linkage exercise that is slowing down the entire process and have called on the federal government to provide the necessary funding that will enable NIMC to operate effectively and efficiently. 

Nigerians have passed through a lot of challenges while trying to register their NIN and link same to their SIM cards, and the challenges seem unresolved, as many Nigerians are yet to either enroll for NIN or are unable to link their NIN to their SIMs as a result of network challenges.

Nigerians were always seen in large numbers at all NIMC’s offices nationwide, just to either register for their NIN or verify their NIN, or link their NIN to their SIM cards. Most times NIMC staff members are overwhelmed by the large crowd and they are unable to attend to the crowd due to network challenges. The situation continued for months and years, until recently, when NIMC had to license partners across the country to carry out the NIN registration exercise, a development that immediately raised the number of NIN registrations from 32 million to over 104 million.   

Regulatory Intervention 

To bring ease to NIN registration and linkage, the NCC is planning some regulatory actions that will speed up the entire process. Such intervention, THISDAY gathered, includes the planned introduction of online self-registration app (Self-KYC App) that will expedite, simplify, and streamline the NIN-SIM linkage process, and the planned introduction of measures that will simplify the SIM registration process for all devices that are linked to the Internet of Things (IoTs) that are used for car tracking. The NCC is also considering instituting a simplified process for the addition of new SIMs to existing subscription profiles of subscribers. THISDAY gathered that the proposed self-KYC would be for subscribers whose NIN verification failed due to biometric mismatch.