The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has successfully implemented the Federal Government’s policy linking all phone numbers to a National Identification Number (NIN).
The NIN-SIM linkage policy began in December 2020, with multiple deadline extensions.
Aminu Maida, NCC’s Executive Vice-Chairman, announced this at the 2024 Annual Corporate Governance Conference in Lagos while acknowledging the challenges faced by Nigerians during the process.
“We have recently concluded the implementation of the federal government’s 2020 policy of linking every phone number to a NIN.
“Though it was a bit painful for Nigerians, I think we also need to appreciate what that does for us,” Maida said.
Maida highlighted the significance of this initiative, emphasizing accountability.
“Today, there is no phone number that we cannot associate with a verified NIN. Not just a number, but a number that has been verified,” he noted.
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He addressed concerns about authenticity, stating, “If this phone number is involved in fraud or any crime, I can now authoritatively say, based on the NIN linked to it, this is the person who is using that phone number.”
Maida also discussed the NCC’s partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to combat fraud in mobile financial transactions.
“A lot of the time, the channels for financial services are your mobile, and it comes down to that phone number that is used to either perform a banking transaction over a mobile app or a USSD transaction,” Maida explained.
He noted insufficient consequences for phone numbers used in fraud.
“Today, we have to admit where we are. We could do a lot better, because there are not very strong consequences when a phone number is used to perpetrate fraud,” he added.
Maida emphasized the need for stronger measures, citing potential misuse in sectors like pensions.
