The Federal Government of Nigeria has ordered telecom operators in the country to stop charging their subscribers N20 when they request to retrieve their National Identity Number (NIN).
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) gave the order on Friday.
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He directed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to ensure the charge was discontinued by the operators.
The Minister’s directive, which takes immediate effect, is an intervention aimed at making the process easier and affordable, a statement from his media aide, Uwa Suleiman, said on Friday.
In a letter conveying the implementation of the directive, the NCC and NIMC, informed Dr Pantami that the relevant authorities had met and negotiated a waiver with the Mobile Network Operators in that regard.
By this waiver, all Nigerians, subscribers and applicants, can access the service using the *346# code for their NIN retrieval at no charge for the duration of the NIN/SIM Card integration exercise.
Daily Trust reports that the federal government had earlier directed that all National Identification Numbers be integrated with Subscriber Identification Modules for security purposes.
