Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have revealed that the second phase deadline for SIM-NIN linkage has been extended by one week.
It would be recalled that the
disconnection process was rolled out in stages, with the second phase scheduled
for today, March 29.
The first phase took place on
February 28, 2024, after NCC directed telecom operators to bar millions of
subscribers for refusing to link their SIMs with their NINs.
The third phase is slated to
commence on April 15, 2024, as previously announced by NCC in December, 2023.
But the National Association of
Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS) said it would be unfair to bar any
subscriber because some of them had been having difficulty linking their SIMs
with their NINs.
NATCOMS’ President, Chief Deolu
Ogunbanjo, therefore, requested that the NCC extend the deadline scheduled for
the disconnection of telephone lines not linked to NIN beyond Friday, March 29,
2024.
Speaking with Daily Trust
yesterday, a top official of NCC said the commission had extended the second
phase deadline by one week because of the Easter public holiday.
The official, who pleaded
anonymity, said the telcos had been directed not to bar any subscriber until
after one week, from Friday, March 29.
He explained that, “The telecom
operators will not bar any subscriber yet. We will only be talking about
barring after a week from tomorrow. Yes, technically, we can say the deadline
has been extended by a week.”
Another NCC top staff member
who corroborated what the first official told our reporter added that NCC
yielded to appeals by some CSOs and telecom right groups calling for deadline
extension because of internet glitches experienced in the country two weeks
ago.
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