The Nigerian Communications Commission has cleaned 59.7 million in 2024 lines through the strict enforcement of the National Identification Number–Subscriber Identity Module policy.
The NCC revealed this in its 2024 Subscriber/Network Performance Report.
The active subscriber base reduced from 224.7 million in 2023 to 164.9 million by December 2024, representing a 26.6 per cent year-on-year decline.
The commission said the drop was followed the removal of SIMs not linked to verifiable NINs and the rectification of a long-standing subscriber-count discrepancy by a major mobile network operator.
The clean-up was after the FG’s several years of push to link all SIM cards to valid NINs, a policy launched on 4 February 2020 and jointly enforced by the NCC and the National Identity Management Commission. After several deadline extensions between 2023 and 2024, authorities set a final cut-off date of 14 September 2024. From 15 September, any SIM without a verified NIN was automatically deactivated.
According to the report, the teledensity showed the scale of the clean-up reducing from 103.66 per cent in 2023 to 76.08 per cent in 2024.
The commission reported that “internet subscriptions also declined, dropping from 163.8 million to 139.3 million, a loss of 24.6 million users, representing a 14.98 per cent contraction during the period under review.
“Despite the reduction in subscriber numbers, the regulator reported continued progress in coverage expansion. Nigeria achieved over 95 per cent cellular coverage, while broadband penetration rose marginally from 43.71 per cent to 44.43 per cent, supported by widespread access to 3G (89 per cent), 4G (84 per cent) and 5G (13 per cent) networks.”
The report, said the sector was stabilizing according to fresh data, adding that “active telephone subscriptions rose to 173.54 million in September 2025, up from 171.57 million in August, reflecting continued market adjustment after the 2024 clean-up.”
