WorldStage– Members of Nigeria’s House of Representatives are proposing a mandatory 18-month waiting period before telecommunications companies can recycle inactive phone numbers.
The initiative is being mooted to address rampant SIM-swap fraud and security risks, where new owners receive sensitive calls, messages, and bank alerts meant for previous owners of the repurposed number.
The proposal seeks to extend the current regulatory timeline overseen by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which governs SIM deactivation and number recycling under its telecom identity and numbering framework.
Under existing rules, a phone line is typically marked inactive after approximately 180 days (six months) without any revenue-generating activity such as calls, SMS, data usage, or paid USSD services.
If inactivity persists for another 180 days, bringing the total to roughly one year, the number becomes eligible for deactivation and possible reassignment to a new subscriber.
The NCC has, in recent policy adjustments, reinforced a one-year lifecycle for dormant numbers and introduced additional safeguards, including requirements for telecom operators to issue advance notifications, often at least 14 days before final deactivation or recycling.
However, lawmakers argue that the current system still exposes Nigerians to significant risks, particularly given the central role mobile numbers now play in financial and digital identity systems.
Phone numbers, according to them, are widely linked to bank accounts, Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), National Identification Numbers (NIN), and one-time password (OTP) authentication systems.
The proposed 18-month “cooling-off” period is designed to ensure the original owner has ceased using the number for all digital services, such as banking, social media, and National Identification Number (NIN) registration.
Experts have highlighted that rapid recycling allows scammers to access bank accounts and personal data of previous owners.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is concurrently cracking down on pre-registered SIM cards and has proposed a mandatory 14-day notice before operators deactivate any SIM card due to inactivity, aimed at giving users time to comply with regulations.
As of early 2026, the government is enforcing strict NIN linkage, with millions of lines facing restrictions for non-compliance, further highlighting the need for secure handling of inactive numbers. The push for a longer waiting period is a direct response to the increasing danger of fraud and the need to protect the digital identities of Nigerians, preventing the recycled numbers from falling into the wrong hands.
