Over 101 million telecommunication subscribers are yet to comply with the Federal Government’s December 31 deadline on the linkage of the National Identity Number with their Subscriber Identity Module.
Checkout Magazine learned that they risk disconnection if they fail to do the needful before the deadline elapses.
A source in the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria told Punch on Friday that only about 90 million subscribers had linked their SIMs to their NINs.
The President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, Ikechukwu Nnamani, said the government would review its activities before deciding on whether to extend the deadline.
He said, “I believe the last statistics from the minister is that over 70 million Nigerians have been captured at NIN, which is great progress from where it was two years ago.
“So, that is commendable. As always, the government will review what is outstanding and decide if the deadline should be extended or not.”
According to the President of the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers, Adeolu Ogunbanjo, an extension is necessary until 80 percent of subscribers have been captured under the SIM-NIN exercise.
“If it covers a minimum of 80 percent of subscribers, we are good to go. But if it is less, we are pleading for an extension. Depending on how far we have come, an extension might be needed. A minimum of 80 percent of the total number of subscribers must be achieved first.”
