The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ibrahim has directed the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC) and the National Identity Management Commission(NIMC) to remove the N20 USSD fee imposed on subscribers for National Identification Number(NIN) retrieval requests.
The NCC had recently asked telecommunication service providers to block SIM cards not registered with NIN after two weeks.
The government also approved 173 centres and 30 state government institutions for NIN enrollment across Nigeria.
Subscribers who had enrolled for NIN in the past but do not remember their identification numbers are required to pay a fee for the retrieval.
However, a statement on Friday by the spokesperson for the minister, Uwa Suleiman, said government had ordered telecommunication companies to stop the deduction for NIN retrieval.
The statement read in part: “The minister’s directive which takes immediate effect, is an intervention aimed at making the process easier and affordable.
“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.”
NIGERIA 
