Telecommunications companies have resumed key SIM services after confirming that the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) verification portal is now stable.
The development follows more than three weeks of disruption that stalled the sale of new SIM cards, SIM swaps, and number porting services across the country, leaving millions of Nigerians unable to complete routine telecom transactions.
MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest telecom operator with over 90 million subscribers, announced the progress in restoring services. In a post on its official X handle on Monday, the telecommunication outfit said it had resumed SIM swap services for most of its customers, while efforts are still ongoing to fully restore new SIM registrations and other SIM-related activities.
“Y’ello, we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience experienced during your SIM registration/swap. Please note that we have resumed SIM SWAP for the majority of our customers.
However, we are working on resuming SIM registration, MNP, and all other SIM-related services,” MTN stated.
Airtel Nigeria, the second largest operator in the country, also confirmed that services were gradually returning to normalcy. In an update on its X page, Airtel said the NIMC portal is now functional and apologised for earlier communications that suggested otherwise.
“The NIMC portal is up and running. We regret earlier messages suggesting otherwise. We’re sorry for the delay and are addressing the issue. We’ll update customers once resolved. We value our partnership with NIMC and appreciate your patience,” the operator said.
The disruption, which started earlier this month, was linked to the migration of telecom operators to NINAuth, NIMC’s new digital identity verification platform. The system was introduced to enhance data security and ensure that citizens have direct control over the use of their personal data during identity verification.
Unlike the previous process, where organisations could verify identities in the background, the NINAuth platform requires citizens to authorise each verification request. According to NIMC, the transition was aimed at strengthening data protection and meeting global standards.
Despite NIMC’s position that the platform was working properly, telecom operators reported that the portal was either inaccessible or unstable, leading to the suspension of new SIM registrations, SIM swaps, and number porting.
The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria had explained that unforeseen technical challenges emerged during the transition to the new platform. These challenges affected real-time NIN verification for SIM registration, replacement, and migration between networks.
“Following a recent directive from the National Identity Management Commission mandating Mobile Network Operators to transit to a new identity verification platform, unforeseen technical challenges have emerged, impacting real-time NIN verification for SIM registration, replacement, and porting,” ALTON said in an earlier joint statement signed by its Chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, and Publicity Secretary, Barrister Damian Udeh.
Checks at telecom service centres in Lagos confirmed that major operators, including MTN and Airtel, had not registered new SIMs for over three weeks. SIM swaps for lost or damaged lines were carried out intermittently, depending on the system’s availability. Number porting services were completely frozen.
The prolonged disruption led to nationwide frustration, with Nigerians unable to replace lost SIM cards or activate new lines, affecting not only telecom services but also transactions tied to phone numbers, such as mobile banking and digital verification at government agencies.
The identity regulator, which holds records of over 122 million Nigerians in its database, maintained throughout the period that telecom operators had successfully migrated to the new system and said the commission should not be blamed for the service failures.
“NIMC verification platform, NINAuth, is working seamlessly. All telcos have successfully migrated to the new platform for a week now,” NIMC’s Head of Corporate Communications, Kayode Adegoke, told The PUNCH.
“NIMC is not responsible for any issues arising from new SIM registration, SIM swap, or SIM migration. These issues should be addressed by the telcos.”
The disruption also drew criticism from consumer advocacy groups, who accused government agencies and telecom operators of poor communication and a lack of stakeholder engagement during the transition.
The National President of the Association of Telephone, Cable TV, and Internet Subscribers of Nigeria, Sina Bilesanmi, said the group was not officially informed about the migration process and had to find out about the issue on its own.
“This is a country where when leaders say ‘yes,’ it may not really mean yes. NIMC claims to have registered 122 million Nigerians for NIN, but people are still facing problems everywhere, not just in telecoms, but at banks and government offices.
Everything is tied to NIN, and there’s no proper public education or consultation,” Bilesanmi said.
The National Association of Telecoms Subscribers also expressed concern over the impact of the outage. Its president, Adeolu Ogunbanjo, said the association planned to meet with the Nigerian Communications Commission to discuss the crisis and its effect on subscribers.
“Subscribers are unable to buy or register SIM cards, and the disruption is affecting everyone,” Ogunbanjo said. “We’ll be in contact with the NCC to find a way forward. Nigerians can’t continue like this.”
In April, the NIMC renewed its long-standing partnership with IDEMIA Smart Identity to upgrade Nigeria’s biometric identity infrastructure.
IDEMIA, a company that specialises in cryptographic and biometric technologies, provides solutions designed to establish a single, trusted identity for individuals. The firm stated that the upgraded system will be capable of processing one million 1:1 and 1:N identity verification searches daily.
Originally built to accommodate 100 million National Identification Numbers, the current system has already reached capacity.
According to IDEMIA, the extension is necessary to scale the infrastructure for Nigeria’s entire population.
