NIGERIA: New SIM registration to start April 19, 2021, with NIN ― FG
The federal government of Nigeria has concluded plans to start the activation of the new SIM card registration from April 19, 2021.
According to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, the approval has already been given in line with the Revised National Digital Identity Policy for SIM Card Registration.
A statement obtained by The Daily, the Technical Assistant (Information Technology) to the Minister, Dr. Femi Adeluyi said the Minister has directed the National Communications Commission, and NIMC to ensure that the provisions of the Policy are strictly followed by all operators and subscribers.
He stated: “The Minister had coordinated and led the development of the Revised National Digital Identity Policy for SIM Card Registration in collaboration with all other stakeholders.
“An earlier Policy was approved on the 4th of February 2020, while the Revised Policy was developed in early March 2021. “The final amendments to the revised Policy based on the directives of Mr. President to make the use of NIN mandatory for all SIM registration were completed yesterday, 14th of April, 2021.
“Prior to that, the key aspects of the draft Policy were presented to the stakeholders at the 4th Review Meeting of the Ministerial Task Force (MTF) on the NIN-SIM registration which held on Friday, 26th of February, 2021.”
Continuing, he said: “The Telecoms Master will also be responsible for ensuring that the users provide their NINs to serve as a Secondary NIN. “For IoT/M2M activations, SIM security protocols would be implemented on the SIM profile to ensure that SIMs can only be used for point-to-point data services specific to the URL they are working with.
“All other services will be barred. In the event that a data the only service is particular to individual use (eg home car tracking, WiFi, MiFi services, etc), the standard NIN registration process will be followed.
“A Telecoms Master will also be required for Corporates requiring IoT/M2M activations. The full details of the requirements for each class of service will be made available in due course.” On NIN registration, Adeluyi stated that significant progress has been made in the process across the country, noting that that the Federal Government is committed to supporting all Nigerians and legal residents to obtain a NIN.
“The biometric verification process has been slower than anticipated, owing largely to the non-adherence of many previous SIM biometric capture processes to the NIMC standards. “The Revised Policy will ensure that operators conform to the required standards for biometric capture.
“The Guidelines in the Policy have been painstakingly developed and while they are thorough, it should be noted that they have been developed that way in National interest since the SIM is essentially a national resource.”
