MTN, Airtel Resume SIM Swap Services After NIMC Verification Disruptions

Following nationwide service disruptions that left millions of subscribers unable to access SIM-related services, MTN and Airtel have announced the resumption of SIM swaps and replacements.

Both telecom giants confirmed the restoration of services on Sunday, 20 July 2025, attributing the earlier delays to technical issues with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC)’s verification platform.

MTN Nigeria, in a statement on its official X (formerly Twitter) account, said:  “SIM swaps have now resumed. We can confirm that NIMC services are fully operational and appreciate their support in migrating to a new verification platform for the telecom industry.”

The company apologized for the inconvenience and advised affected customers to visit service centers for assistance.

Similarly, Airtel Nigeria clarified in a social media post:  “The NIMC portal is now functional. We regret any earlier misleading updates and apologize for the delay. Our team is resolving the issue, and we appreciate our customers’ patience. We also value our partnership with NIMC.”

As of now, other major operators like Glo and 9mobile have not issued official statements regarding the restoration of SIM-related services. However, NIMC’s official X account has endorsed MTN and Airtel’s updates, confirming that verification services are back online.

The disruptions, which began in early July, prevented subscribers from processing SIM swaps, replacements, and new activations due to a temporary halt in NIMC’s verification system. The issue arose during a platform migration aimed at enhancing the security and efficiency of Nigeria’s identity management infrastructure.

The NIN verification system is critical for SIM registration under the federal government’s mandatory SIM-NIN linkage policy. After multiple deadline extensions, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) enforced the policy in September 2024, barring unlinked SIMs from networks.

MTN and Airtel have urged customers still facing delays to visit their nearest service centers for support while thanking them for their patience during the outage.

About The Author

Dele Fashomi

Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.

Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.

He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.

Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).

He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.

He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.

Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled:  Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.

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