Abuja, Dec, 19, 2023 – The Nigerian Communications Commission has directed all mobile telecommunication operators in the country to deregister all phone lines without the National Identity Numbers (NIN) and those with unverified NINs.
This was disclosed in a corporate notice that MTN Nigeria filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited revealing the directive from NCC and the attached deadlines for the barring.
The statement, signed by Uto Ukpanah, the Company Secretary for MTN Nigeria, said: “This is part of an industry-wide directive that requires phone lines for which the subscribers have not submitted their NINs to be barred on or before 28 February 2024.
“About NINs that have been submitted, but not verified, such lines are to be barred on or before 29 March 2024, where five or more lines are linked to an unverified NIN.
“Similarly, where less than five lines are linked to an unverified NIN, such lines are to be barred on or before 15 April 2024. All affected subscribers must be verified (biometrics and biodata) before their lines are unbarred.
“As part of these efforts, we are enhancing the capacity of our various service outlets to make the process smoother and more efficient.
“We are committed to ensuring that our subscribers comply with the NCC directive and will continue to work with the National Identity Management Commission to accelerate the NIN verification process.”
The statement said the company was ready to cooperate with the Federal Government in ensuring compliance with the industry-wide directive from NCC.
“As a law-abiding corporate citizen and in line with our operating licence requirements, we are committed to complying with the industry-wide directive from the NCC and will provide further updates to investors on progress and potential impact with the release of FY 2023 results.” (GBN)
