Nigeria Loses Nearly 60 Million Phone Lines As NIN–SIM Policy Takes Full Effect

Nigeria’s telecommunications industry experienced a dramatic reduction in active phone lines in 2024, shedding 59.7 million connections as operators strictly enforced the National Identification Number–Subscriber Identity Module (NIN–SIM) linkage policy.

According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the country’s active subscriber base fell from 224.7 million in 2023 to 164.9 million by December 2024, marking a 26.6 per cent decline year-on-year. The sharp decrease was attributed to the mandatory deactivation of SIM cards not linked to verifiable NINs and the correction of longstanding database discrepancies by a major operator.

The NIN–SIM linkage policy, first introduced in February 2020, aims to curb criminal activities conducted via unregistered lines, enhance national security, and create a more accurate identity database. Following several deadline extensions, authorities set a final cut-off on September 14, 2024, after which all unverified SIMs were deactivated.

President Bola Tinubu reported that over 126 million Nigerians had been successfully enrolled in the National Identity Database, with government expansion of database capacity from 100 million to 250 million records to accelerate coverage.

The NCC noted the impact on teledensity, which dropped from 103.66 per cent in 2023 to 76.08 per cent in 2024, alongside a decline in internet subscriptions from 163.8 million to 139.3 million users, a 14.98 per cent reduction. Despite this contraction, network infrastructure improvements yielded more than 95 per cent cellular coverage nationwide, broadband penetration rising modestly from 43.71 per cent to 44.43 per cent, and 3G, 4G, and 5G network access reaching 89 per cent, 84 per cent, and 13 per cent, respectively.

Recent figures indicate that the market is gradually recovering. Active telephone subscriptions rose to 173.54 million in September 2025, up from 171.57 million in August, while internet subscriptions increased to 140.36 million, and teledensity inched up to 80.05 per cent, reflecting a gradual return of users.