The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has denied reports of a system outage on its NIN verification portal, despite widespread complaints from telecom subscribers and mobile operators across Nigeria.
In recent weeks, many Nigerians have been unable to retrieve lost phone numbers or complete SIM swap and SIM registration processes due to what has been described as a persistent downtime on the NIMC platform. These issues have affected major telecom providers such as MTN Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria.
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In Nigeria, a successful SIM replacement or SIM card recovery requires linking a valid National Identification Number (NIN) to the mobile line. This is a critical step mandated by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to reduce SIM fraud and unauthorized access.
The verification disruption reportedly began last week and continued into the weekend, despite NIMC announcing that full service had been restored after scheduled technical maintenance.
One affected subscriber, Francis Onwu, posted on X (formerly Twitter):
“My phone was stolen two weeks ago. Each time I go to MTN or Airtel, I’m told the NIN portal is down.”
Responding to user complaints, Airtel Nigeria confirmed via its official social media handle:
“Please be informed that the National Identity Number portal is currently unavailable, affecting our ability to process SIM swap requests. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience.”
- However, NIMC’s Head of Corporate Communications, Kayode Adegoke, responded by stating that the issue is not from their end.
- “Our NIN portal is fully operational. Other agencies are currently using it without issues. The problem might be with the telecom providers themselves,”.
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NIMC previously announced that all services had been restored after completing technical maintenance. The agency also encouraged Nigerians to visit its official website to find the nearest NIN enrolment centre, and to use its self-service portal for NIN updates and modifications.
Additionally, the commission advised users to download the NIMC NameAuth App (oath.app) from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store for secure NIN authentication and verification.
Despite these assurances, many Nigerians are still experiencing delays in basic telecom services, especially SIM card replacement, due to continued difficulties in NIN verification.
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