Telecom expert urges FG to remove restrictions on SIM card registration

A telecommunications expert in Owerri, the Imo capital, Mr Charles Okeke, has called on the Federal Government to remove the restrictions placed on SIM card registration.

Okeke, who is the chief executive officer of Tshabron Group, gave the advice at a news briefing on Tuesday while speaking on the effects of the federal government’s SIM Card-National Identification Number (NIN) linkage policy on service providers in the country.

He tasked the government to embrace a more robust system that would encourage healthy partnership between the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and service providers to ensure a seamless linkage.

He said that the partnership would fast-track the process and alleviate the “unnecessary hardship” faced by Nigerians due to tight deadlines for the exercise.

He lamented that the large crowds of people struggling for attention at NIMC offices nationwide defied the COVID-19 protocols and harped on the need to decentralise the process.

Okeke explained that telecommunication firms were facing hard times with lots of complaints from subscribers due to the delay in the process, stressing that the entire exercise had made it impossible to register new SIM cards and welcome back lost or damaged ones.

“The current challenges escalate the cost of running business.

“No customer gets service because of NIN linkage and the enrollment process is dull because the NIMC platform is overworked.

“Recently, we engaged security operatives in order to keep peace and security within our space.

“It pains when we are not able to resolve customers’ issues and some customers lack understanding.

“We, therefore, call on the government to allow normal operations and customer services to go on simultaneously with NIN enrollment and SIM card linkage.

“This will help to ease the tension on telecommunication businesses,” Okeke said.

He affirmed that telecommunication outfits in the country had the capacity to handle the data of cellphone users without compromising security.

According to the expert, a healthy partnership between service providers and NIMC would help to ease the process of enrollment and eliminate the crowd at all the commission’s offices nationwide.

He asserted that MTN, through its many affiliates connects and enterprise partners, “has the capacity to assist NIMC in seamlessly handling the data of mobile phone users in Nigeria for better results”.