The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced that the issuance of new SIM cards will resume on April 19, “as long as verification is done and the guidelines are fully adhered to.”
The Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy communicated this in a statement signed by Femi Ademiluyi, a technical aide to Minister Isa Pantami.
Issuance of new SIM cards was suspended by the government in December 2020 as it embarked on an audit of the Subscriber Registration Database
The Communications Ministry said at the time that the audit exercise was important in order to verify and ensure compliance by Mobile Network Operators with set quality standards and requirements of SIM Card Registration.
The resumption of new SIM cards issuance comes as the country is set to implement a Revised National Digital Identity Policy for SIM Card Registration.
He said: “The implementation of the Policy will commence on Monday, 19th of April 2021. The issuance of New SIMs and other suspended activities will resume on the same date, as long as verification is done and the guidelines are fully adhered to. The Honourable Minister has also directed NCC and NIMC to ensure that the provisions of the Policy are strictly followed by all operators and subscribers.”
