The Federal Government has approved the establishment of SIM swap centers in each of the 774 Local Government Areas in the country.
The approval was disclosed in a joint statement signed on Wednesday by the spokespersons of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Ikechukwu Adinde, and the Nigeria Identity Management Commission, NIMC, Kayode Adegoke, respectively.
According to the statement, the decision was reached at fourth ministerial task force meeting on NIN-SIM registration chaired by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, on Friday.
They revealed that the NIN enrolment agent licenses granted to mobile network operators was also extended from one to five years, saying this was a “deliberate effort of the Federal Government to simplify the enrolment process for Nigerians and legal residents.”
The statement said: “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),” the statement added.
The spokesmen added that President Buhari “strongly commended the achievements recorded so far” and urged the minister and other stakeholders to “maintain the tempo.”
“While Mr Pantami assured of the 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,” the statement concluded.
