The Minister of Communications, Isa Pantami has asked telecom providers to remove N20 charges imposed on Nigerians to check national identification numbers (NIN).
The minister gave the directive in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Mrs Uwa Suleiman, on Friday in Abuja.
The Minister said the directive which took immediate effect, was an intervention aimed at making the process easier and affordable.
According to him, the Executive Vice-Chairman of NCC and the Director General of NIMC, said relevant authorities had met and negotiated a waiver with the Mobile Network Operators in that regard.
“By this waiver, all Nigerians, subscribers and applicants can access the service using the *346# code for their NIN retrieval at no charge for the duration of the NIN/SIM Card integration exercise,” he said.
The Minister appreciated the efforts of all stakeholders and encouraged them to continue sacrificing more for national interest.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has given telecommunications companies in the country two weeks to block all unregistered SIM cards.
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