From Benjamin Babine, Abuja
The Federal Government has approved the establishment of dedicated Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) swap centers by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) across all states and local government areas (LGAs) in the country.
This was part of the resolution reached at the Ministerial Task Force meeting on the NIN-SIM registration, chaired by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami.
In a statement jointly signed by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), it was disclosed also that the government approved the extension of MNO’s NIN enrolment license tenure.
The statement read in part: “Approval was given to MNOs for the establishment of dedicated SIM Swap Centres across the Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria;
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.”
“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 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 for SIM Swap/Replacement Centres in each of the 774 LGAs in the country, beginning with critical and feasible locations.
The Minister went on to appreciate 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.
Stakeholders present at the meeting included the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Dambatta,
DG of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Engr Aliyu Aziz,
DG of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Abdullahi.
Others present were the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), MD/CEOs of MTN, Airtel, EMTS (9Mobile), NTEL, Spectranet and SMILE, as well as the COO of Glo.