NCC — The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has approved the disconnection of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes of nine financial institutions by telecommunications companies.
The disconnection approval is in response to the banks’ failure to fulfil their stunning debt of N200 billion accumulated since 2019.
The commission has thus set a deadline of January 27, 2025, for the disconnection approval to take effect, and for any of the banks failing to settle their due and outstanding debts.
The financial institutions defaulted in this category and as affected by the directive include Fidelity Bank Plc, First City Monument Bank, Jaiz Bank Plc, Polaris Bank Limited, Sterling Bank Limited, United Bank for Africa Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Wema Bank Plc, and Zenith Bank Plc.
The NCC in its approval notice as signed by its Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, states the urgency of the situation.
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Muoka also added that the banks’ non-compliance with a joint directive from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the NCC has necessitated this ultimatum.
NCC official statement reads that, “As of close of business on Tuesday, 14th January 2025, of a total of 18 financial institutions, the nine institutions listed below have failed to comply significantly with the directives in the Second Joint Circular of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the commission dated December 20, 2024, for the settlement of outstanding invoices due to Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), some since 2020.”
The regulator, NCC, further warn the defaulting financial institutions that their failure to comply with the CBN-NCC joint circular indicates their inability to continue meet the good standing requisitions necessary for the renewal of the USSD codes assigned to them.
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