The House of Representatives has called on the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to extend the deadline for re-registration of SIM cards by Nigerians to 10 weeks.
This was after an amendment to a prayer and adoption of motion moved by the House Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu (PDP, Delta), at the plenary on Wednesday.
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Presenting the Motion, Elumelu had said the two weeks deadline for Nigerians to link their SIM registration with National Identification Number (NIN) be extended to four weeks.
He expressed concerned that although the idea behind the policy may seem good, the timing was very wrong, adding that Nigerians have not been properly sensitized, as only a few educated persons who bother to read the dailies might have heard about this instructions.
“Therefore, trying to enforce this policy in a period where most Nigerians are gearing up for Christmas festivities may lead to stampede in the process of rushing to get registered which could lead to unnecessary death and injuries.
“If the NCC is allowed to carry out this directives, it will bring about untold hardship as millions of subscribers will be disconnected this yuletide period which could spell disaster in an already volatile nation like ours.
“If the NCC is not urgently called to halt their plans, there may be unnecessary panic in the country which may lead to exploitation of vulnerable Nigerian, thereby causing more pains in an already pathetic situation, hence the need to urgently wade into this impending crisis,” he urged.
After contributions and amendment to the prayer, the House resolved that the NCC should give a reasonable time to enable Nigerians to submit their National Identity Numbers (NIN) to service providers and not the two weeks given.
It, therefore, called on the NCC to extend the deadline to 10 weeks.
It also mandated the House Committee on Communications to ensure compliance.
