Business

SIM-NIN: 22 Days After Ban, Telcos Lose N76bn, Subscribers Stranded

Published

3 years ago

April 27, 2022

Editor

Telecommunication companies have lost about N75.78bn as subscribers struggle to link their National Identification Number to the Subscriber Identity Module, about 22 days after the Federal Government directed telecom companies to bar defaulting consumers from making outgoing calls.

On April 4, the Federal Government directed telcos to restrict outgoing calls on all lines that had not linked their SIMs to NINs after the deadline for the verification exercise expired on March 31.

As a result, about 72.77 million active telecom subscribers were barred from making calls on their SIMs. Voice revenue is a major source of revenue for telecom companies. In 2021, MTN made N819.74bn from voice revenue, while Airtel made N397.91bn from voice.

According to the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, the industry Average Revenue Per User was N1,420 in 2020. This translates to about N1,041.33 per subscriber in 22 days.

According to the statement announcing the directive, subscribers whose lines are restricted can have them unrestricted once they link their SIMs to their NINs.

Meanwhile, sources in the telecom industry have said the process has not been seamless and that it is also impacting telcos’ revenue stream.

A source in the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria said the verification exercise had become a major challenge for the operators and the Nigeria Identity Management Commission.

The source said, “This ban is significantly impacting on the revenue stream of telcos. If almost half of your subscribers are cut down, that is, they cannot make calls; of course, this will impact revenue.

“From the telcos’ side, we have no challenge. The challenge is with the Nigeria Identity Management Commission, with verification.

“They have a lot of subscribers who want to verify their NINs. And without these verifications, we can’t activate these numbers. A lot of people have tried to link but because they have not been verified, they are still blocked. There are still certain numbers of verifications that can be done per day, and this is technology.

“So in-between those periods there may be downtime, issue of non-access, and more. I cannot tell you offhand how many verifications we can do per day. The major challenge we have now is that of people trying to unblock their numbers. There is a surge, and sometimes they are overwhelmed. That is what is happening presently, but all the stakeholders are trying to do their best.”

A high-ranking source in one of the telecom companies said there was nothing the companies could do as they needed NIMC to give a go-ahead before they could unblock numbers.

The source said, “A lot of the issues we have are from the NIMC end. There is nothing anyone can do. If this problem is from the backend, it means every network subscriber is likely to be facing this challenge.

“One thing is for operators to regularise from their side. Another thing is for the NIMC to do their part. Sometimes it gets to them, and they have downtime and maybe server issues.”

According to the source, when subscribers submit their NIN for verification, it gets sent to the NIMC, which has to send feedback before the numbers can be unbarred. The source added, “So, after telcos accept the numbers and verify, we need to wait for feedback from the NIMC, this is where there is a problem.”

The President of the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers, Adeolu Ogunbanjo, stated that the capacity for NIMC to accept uploads was not particularly adequate. He added that congestion in the past couple of days had aggravated the situation.

He said, “Subscribers are trying to link their lines, but they are still being barred. The capacity of the NIMC to accept the upload is not particularly adequate. Now, there are so many people who want to upload all their data so that the NIMC will verify.

“That is not happening because there is so much congestion right now. And unfortunately, the relevant ministry does not want to listen. They are still saying, through the NCC, that they are not going to extend it anymore. This is why we would be joining SERAP by end of this month in its suit against the government.”

Ogunbanjo further said that subscribers were paying as much as N10,000 to get their numbers verified within three to four days at NIMC centres.

He stated, “It is a problem. Go to the NIMC centres, it is a mess. Again, if your NIN and Number are verified within three to four days, you would have to pay N10,000. People are paying because they are frustrated.

“We are still appealing to the agencies to give at least another three-month extension. Let them unbar subscribers so that sanity can be restored to the centres. Another 90 days won’t make any difference, it would only give us time to regularise.”

Efforts to reach the Head, Corporate Communications at the Nigeria Identity Management Commission, Mr Kayode Adegoke, proved abortive.

Calls and WhatApp messages sent to him were not responded to as of the time of filing this report.

PUNCH

Business

Why Nigeria’s Crude Oil Production Dropped To 1.63mbpd In August – NUPRC

Published

11 hours ago

September 21, 2025

Editor

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has explained that unscheduled maintenance at a refinery facility made Nigeria’s crude oil production drop on a month-on-month basis in August.

This comes as Nigeria’s crude oil production dropped to 1.63 million barrels per day month-on-month in August, down from 1.71 million bopd in July.

NUPRC disclosed this in its Crude Oil and Condensate Production for August 2025, released on Saturday.

This means a 4.7 per cent drop in combined crude oil and condensate production from 1.71 million bopd in July.

In the same vein, crude oil production itself declined by 4.8 per cent, down from 1.5 million bopd in July 2025.

“The month-on-month drop was driven by a single-day unscheduled maintenance at an oil facility.

“In the month of August, the lowest and peak combined crude and condensate production were 1.59 million bopd and 1.85 million bopd, respectively,” NUPRC said.

The data showed that while there was a decline month-on-month, the country’s crude oil production rose on a year-on-year basis by 5.5 per cent to 1.63 mbpd in August this year from 1.58 million bopd in the same period last year.

Further analysis indicates that daily condensate production in August stood at 197,229 bpd, reflecting a decline.

Also, Nigeria’s crude oil output in August achieved 96 per cent of its OPEC quota, which is set at 1.5 million bopd.

Accordingly, in the period under review, Forcados Terminal topped the production charts, delivering a total of 8.99 million barrels, including 8.08 million barrels of crude oil and 915.2k barrels of condensates.

Business

Marketers Get Dangote’s Free Fuel Supply

Published

2 days ago

September 20, 2025

Editor

Marketers on Friday confirmed that Dangote Refinery’s compressed natural gas-powered trucks have started delivering fuel to their stations at no cost to them.

The National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Shettima, confirmed this to our correspondent in an interview on Friday.

Recall that Dangote Refinery rolled out over 1,000 CNG trucks on Monday, saying the entire 4,000 would be in the country before October.

The direct fuel distribution scheme was initially scheduled to commence on August 15, but was delayed due to logistics challenges in China.

A total of 4,000 CNG trucks were ordered from China for delivery in Lagos. However, the plan was stalled as there were insufficient vessels to transport the trucks.

Speaking with our correspondent, the IPMAN president said independent marketers in the South West have started receiving the trucks in their stations to offload petroleum products.

Shettima said only registered marketers can receive the free delivery from Dangote Refinery.

He said the stopping of fuel sales to unregistered marketers by the refinery is not a big deal, as marketers can register on the Dangote portal anytime they are ready.

“If you don’t register, your name will not appear on the system unless you register through the portal, which the company has been announcing for a long time. But marketers can register at any time, even at night, because it’s not difficult. You will just input all your information and register. So, that one is not an issue at all,” Shettima said.

He told our correspondent that marketers in Lagos, Ogun and Ondo have confirmed the receipt of Dangote’s logistics-free fuel.

“Dangote has started the free delivery. Already, the trucks have started moving. In most parts of the Western Zone, they have already started discharging their products, since it is closer to Lagos. So the plan is moving seriously. And my marketers are very pleased with the development.

“I can confirm to you that my members have started receiving the trucks in Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Ibadan and others,” Shettima stated.

Speaking on the price, the IPMAN boss explained that prices would drop from N865 to N841 the moment petrol gets to the stations under the new arrangement.

“The prices have started coming down; even here now, when you push it to Abuja, you will see the price reduction. Wherever he discharges, all the independent marketers, anywhere he discharges, you will see there will be a price change.

“The MRS filling stations have started reducing prices, they have with independent petroleum marketers. Any marketer who applies for the product and receives it will reduce the price,” he stressed.

Business

Dangote Fuel Sells Cheaper In Togo Than In Nigeria – Falana Laments

Published

7 days ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

Human rights activist Femi Falana, SAN, has lamented that fuel taken from Dangote is cheaper in Togo than in Nigeria.

Falana expressed his concerns on Sunday while responding to questions in an interview on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television.

He urged the federal government to review the proposed 5 per cent fuel surcharge and ensure that further hardship is not imposed on Nigerians.

“I guess the government wants to go back to the drawing table and ensure that it is not accused of multiple taxes or double taxation because consumers will pay VAT for buying fuel. They will now put an additional 5 per cent tax.

“I think this is what Nigerians are complaining about. And from what we just read today is that the Dangote fuel taken from Nigeria is now cheaper in Togo than in Nigeria I think about 65 naira.

“So, the government will have to review these developments (the proposed 5 per cent fuel surcharge) and ensure more hardship is not imposed on Nigerians,” he said.