Foreigners who will not stay in Nigeria for more than two years are expected to renew their SIM Cards every six months.
This was disclosed by the Nigerian Communications Commission in its new draft for ‘Business Rules and Operational Processes for Implementation of the National Policy for SIM activation, Replacement and Other Key Telecommunications Operational Processes’.
The report said, “SIM activations for foreigners exempted from enrolling for NIN shall be configured for a period of six months in the first instance and can be renewed further upon request and where the visa is not for a stay of two years and above.”
It added, “Foreigners validly transiting through Nigeria or are employed in or reside in Nigeria for less than 24 months are exempted from the mandatory use of NIN requirement. Persons in this category need to provide justification that they will be residing in Nigeria for less than two years.”
It said the SIM will be deactivated if the foreigner does not request for SIM activation at the end of the six-month period.
For foreigners staying in the country for more than two years, it is required for them to register for NIN as well as fully register their SIMs.
“NIN is mandatory for foreigners with legal residency status or those living in Nigeria for two years and above. For those who do not already have a NIN, mobile network operators shall capture the resident’s details for NIN issuance as part of the NIN enrolment process, upon presentation of resident’s permits,” it stated.
The New Diplomat had earlier reported that the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Dr Isa Pantami haad said that the NIN is the only “primary identification of our citizens and every other identification is secondary.”
The minister said this while
addressing newsmen after a tour of telecoms operators and NIN licensees in Abuja, said President Muhammadu Buhari has been briefed on the on-going NIN registrations.
Pantami stated that the President lauded the process and was happy with the conducts of the exercise.
The Minister said he has also briefed the National Economic Sustainability Committee headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on the imperative of replacing BVN with NIN.
Pantami who compared BVN and NIN, submitted BVN was only for account holders with various banks, while the National Identity Numbers are for all Nigerians irrespective of their status
In his words, “BVN is a policy of a bank and has not been established by law, NIN is the only mandatory number and the primary identification of our citizens and every other identification is secondary.”
“The NIMC Act 2007 provides that all our citizens must be enrolled and the law gives them 60 days to enroll from the time the law was enacted and a maximum of 180 days and all permanent residents in the country and legal residents that have to stay here for a minimum of 24 months must be enrolled
“So this is the primary identification of all and all other databases are supposed to utilize this and not for NIN to utilize the BVN because it is the primary one.
“We discussed with the CBN Governor today on how to ensure that all our citizens with BVN will immediately be provided with the NIN. We are working on that but facilitating the process lies on CBN to make it much easier for our people.” Pantami said.
