By Dele Ogbodo
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Ibrahim Pantami, has said there is currently no Improperly registered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards on any
telecommunications network, even after the 9.2 million unregistered SIMs were blocked in 2019.
The Technical Assistance to the Minister on Information, Dr. Femi Adeluyi, in a statement made available to the media said the minister had directed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to fine tune modalities to tie
the National Identity Number (NIN) to Subscriber Identification Modules (SIM) cards.
Reacting to the invitation extended to the Minister by the Senate on the recent spate of insecurity across the country, Adeluyi, said:
“The attention of the Minister has been drawn to some newspaper articles which claimed that the Senate summoned him concerning the role of communication devices in national security.
“Pantami awaits the official invitation and would like to sincerely thank the Senators for their concern and support towards improving national security.”
With persuasive logic, the statement added that the minister has supported security agencies in their statutory duty of protecting lives and property and this is why his first action after his appointment was to issue a directive that no improperly registered subscriber identification module (SIM) be allowed to remain on our networks.
The statement further revealed: “Based on the report submitted by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on the 26th of September 2019, there is currently no improperly registered SIM on our networks.”
However, Adeluyi, said in the event of evidence to the contrary, the minister will sanction any individual or institution found wanting in this regard, adding:
“Pantami wrote to all security agencies on the 14th of October 2019 asking them to collaborate with the Ministry by contacting it whenever a crime has been aided and abetted through the use of telecommunication devices.
“No request by security agencies for assistance in the identification of owners of SIMs used for crime has gone untreated in his office.
“The Minister also submitted a detailed memorandum to the Senate Ad-hoc committee on Nigerian Security Challenges on the 12th of February 2020.
“In a similar vein, the Minister has directed the NCC to ensure that they put modalities in place to tie the National Identify Number (NIN) to SIMs, as well as see to it that no unregistered SIMs are sold.”
Pantami, has also directed the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to significantly scale up the number of monthly NIN registrations.
He assumes that the ministry is committed to using technology to support the growth of the economy and the security of the country, stressing, to this end, the ministry looks forward to collaborating with the Senate and security agencies.
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