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The Federal
Government (FG) has approved the establishment of Subscrdiber Identification
Module (SIM) swapping centres, and extended the tenure of licenses to the
Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) for the registration of the National
Identity Numbers (NIN), reports ITREALMS.
A press statement available to ITREALMS and jointly endorsed by Director, Public Affairs at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde and Head, Corporate Communications at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Mr Kayode Adegoke on behalf of the Ministerial Task Force on the NIN-SIM registration also received applause from the President, General Mohammadu Buhari, retired.
Arising from its 4th Review Meeting last
weekend, the Task Force chaired by the Honourable Minister of Communications
and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, reach a number of resolutions.
Some members of the Ministerial Task
Force in attendance included the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) and Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta; Director-General and CEO
of NIMC, Engr. Aliyu Aziz Abubakar; DG/CEO of the National Information
Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Inuwa Kashifu Abdullahi; Comptroller-General of the Nigeria
Immigration Service (NIS) Muhammed Babandede; and the Chairman of the Association of
Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Engr. Gbenga Adebayo.
Others included the NCC Executive Commissioners for Technical Services and Stakeholder Management, MD/CEOs of MTN, Airtel, EMTS (9Mobile), NTEL, Spectranet and SMILE, as well as the COO of Glo.
ITREALMS gathered that some of the resolutions comprised:
i. Approval was given to MNOs for the establishment of dedicated SIM Swap Centres across the Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria;
ii. Approval was
given for the extension of the tenure of NIN Enrolment Agent Licenses for MNOs
from 1 to 5 years in consideration of their satisfactory performance, subject
to continuous monitoring. This is a deliberate effort of the Federal Government
to simplify the enrolment process for Nigerians and legal residents;
iii. The Technical Committee was
mandated to complete the development of a new SIM issuance strategy that cannot
be compromised. This will ensure that there is no repeat of the past process
that was compromised through pre-registration by some agents; and
iv. A Multi-Sectoral Adhoc Committee was
tasked to immediately complete the review of the processes for new SIM
activations for legal residents staying in Nigeria for less than 24
months. The membership of the Committee was drawn from NCC, NIMC, Nigeria
Immigration Service and the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of
Nigeria (ALTON).
Furthermore, MNOs that already have
Service Centres in important and critical locations in LGAs, are expected to
upgrade these Centres to a level where they can qualify as SIM Swap Centres in
order to reduce the challenges associated with the SIM Swap/Replacement process
for the citizens. The purpose is to bring SIM Swap Centres closer to Nigerians
regardless of their location.
The Minister also tasked the Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC), working with the National Identity Management
Commission (NIMC) and MNOs, to come up with a framework for the establishment
of SIM Swap/Replacement Centres in each of the 774 LGAs in the country,
beginning with critical and feasible locations.
The EVC of NCC, Prof Danbatta, briefed
the meeting on the outcome of the Senate Investigative Hearing on 5G Deployment
in Nigeria, which took place on February 25, 2021. He extolled the
Honourable Minister for making an eloquent presentation to dispel fears about
the public health and security implications of 5G, as well as making a case for
this new technology in the country. All stakeholders agreed on the need for the
country to deploy 5G technology.
President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR was briefed on the activities of the Ministerial Task Force. He strongly commended the achievement recorded so far and urged the Minister and other stakeholders to maintain the tempo.
The Honourable Minister also appreciated Nigerians for their patience and compliance with the Federal Government’s directive on the NIN-SIM registration exercise, which has many benefits to the country and its citizens.
He assured of government’s commitment to continually take decisions aimed at easing the pains of the citizens with regard to issues related to NIN and SIM registration.
Remmy Nweke/DoP
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