Telcos carry out NCC order, MTN restores services after fibre cuts

There were noticeable crowds at various bank outlets across Lagos, yesterday, as customers struggled to link their National Identification Numbers (NIN) to their Bank Verification Numbers (BVN).

Customers, who spoke with The Guardian, said apart from carrying out other bank activities, the linking of NIN to BVN, which is now mandatory, equally brought them to the banking halls.

In Nigeria, while there are 104 million NINs as of December 2023, data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) showed that as of January 2024, there are 60.2 million BVNs in the country.

Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had in December 2023 announced that it would freeze accounts without a BVN and NIN from April 2024.
In a circular by the apex bank, it instructed banks to place a “Post no Debit” restriction – which prevents customers from making withdrawals, transfers, or any other debits “for all existing Tier-1 accounts/wallets without BVN or NIN”.

“Effective immediately, any unfunded account/wallet shall be placed on ‘Post No Debit or Credit’ until the new process is satisfied. Effective March 1, 2024, all funded accounts or wallets shall be placed on ‘Post No Debit or Credit’ and no further transactions permitted,” the circular by the CBN Director of Payments System Management Department Chibuzo Efobi, and the Director of Financial Policy and Regulation Department Haruna Mustapha read in part.

Due to the gaps that still exist in the NIN registration process with so many people having several irregularities and some without it (NIN), if the policy is reviewed, once implemented, many Nigerians might be unable to withdraw from their accounts and this might worsen their plights in the face of the country’s worsening cost of living crisis.

Already, banks including GTB, have urged their customers to link their NINs to their BVN. GTB, in a notice, said: “We would like to inform you of the mandatory requirement to link your Bank Verification Number (BVN) and National Identity Number (NIN) to your personal GTBank Account. The process of linking your BVN and NIN to your Account is simple and can be completed using any of these channels.”

Meanwhile, some telecom operators, who spoke with The Guardian, said they will carry out the NCC directive, despite a court order.According to them, NCC has not said otherwise, “the directive was for operators to disconnect unlinked SIMs by February 28. We are concluding on the audit done and disconnection begins in earnest.”

In a related development, MTN said it is fast resolving the technical glitch subscribers on the network had yesterday, stressing that the challenge came largely from damage to fibre in Abuja and some parts of the northern region.

Recall that MTN Nigeria suffered a glitch that impacted user’s efforts across the country. The glitch caused uproar among many customers, who were not able to carry out business activities using their SIMs.

In a statement published on social media, the telecommunications provider said its engineers are working hard to resolve the network issues. The multinational giants said: “You have been experiencing challenges connecting to the network due to a major service outage caused by multiple fibre cuts, affecting voice and data services.

“Our engineers are working hard to resolve the problem with services gradually being restored in some areas.
“We apologise for the inconvenience and ask for your patience and understanding as the team works to restore full service as soon as possible.”