Federal Government on Monday announced the extension of the deadline issued to all telecommunications operators in the country to block all Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs) without National Identification Number (NIN).

The announcement was contained in a statement released by the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.

The statement titled, ‘Extension of Registration Period and Cancellation of USSD and Verification Fees’, was jointly signed by the Executive Vice-Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission, Umar Danbatta; and Director-General, National Identity Management Commission, Aliyu Aziz.

It reads;

The National Task Force on National Identification Number and SIM Registration met today, 21st December, 2020.

The meeting was chaired by the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami with major stakeholders in the sector including Chairman – NCC, EVC-NCC, DG-NITDA, DG-NIMC, ECTS/ECSM-NCC, Chairman ALTON, CEOs of MTN, Airtel, Ntel, Glo, Smile, and 9Moble in attendance.

FG added;

Based on the endorsement of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the following resolutions were made:

Three (3) weeks extension for subscribers with NIN from 30th December, 2020 to 19th January, 2021; and

Six (6) weeks extension for subscribers without NIN from 30th December, 2020 to 9th February, 2021.

‌The statement further stated;

NIMC has provided strategies to enable citizens attend the registration in full compliance with Covid-19 protocols – particularly the use of facemasks which remains mandatory and maintenance of social distancing.

It would be recalled that NCC last week directed telecommunications companies to within two weeks suspend phone subscribers with no NIN connected to their SIM cards.

However, the directive was trailed by angry reactions from many Nigerians, who called out the government over the short deadline and the wrong time of event.

Following the outrage, House of Representatives asked the Federal Government to extend the deadline for the provision of NIN by telcos to 10 weeks.