– Says Inactivity Will Lead To Reassignment
The Nigerian Communications Commission has announced fresh measures to address risks linked to recycled phone numbers, warning Nigerians that mobile numbers are not permanently assigned and can be reassigned after a period of inactivity.
Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, disclosed this during a media engagement in Abuja, saying the commission is already working with the Central Bank of Nigeria and other stakeholders to build safeguards around the issue.
According to Maida, one of the committees created after the NCC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the CBN is focused on resolving challenges tied to recycled numbers.
“Immediately after the signing of the MOU, two committees were inaugurated, and one of them is to operationalise a platform to handle the issue of recycled numbers,” he said.
He explained that many subscribers wrongly assume their phone numbers belong to them for life, whereas telecom numbers are part of a limited national resource managed globally through the International Telecommunication Union.
“Numbering is a globally managed resource. The NCC manages these number resources on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria,” Maida said.
The NCC boss noted that inactive lines eventually return to the available pool and may be assigned to new users, a practice common across the world.
“If you are not using it, you lose it. Eventually, it goes back into the pool,” he said.
He added that the growing use of phone numbers for banking, pensions, jobs, and education has made the issue more urgent, especially when old numbers remain linked to sensitive accounts.
“One of the things we will be addressing is how people can be asked to re-authenticate when the numbers are recycled,” he said.
Maida said the commission is starting with the financial sector because some fraud-related complaints have emerged there, but the framework will later expand into other sectors.
“We are going to move to sectors related to pensions, education, and jobs. Wherever a number is used, people need to understand it is not a permanent identity,” he said.
He also urged Nigerians to keep important SIM cards active and regularly update account records tied to their phone numbers.
“We need to go with the message that numbers can be reassigned, and people have to remember that this is the global standard,” Maida said.
He also disclosed that customers have upto a year to re-authenticate the sim before it is recycled.
The development forms part of the NCC’s broader push to improve consumer protection and strengthen trust in Nigeria’s fast-growing digital economy.
