The Federal Government of Nigeria has prohibited the importation of Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards.

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami made the declaration on Monday in Oniru, Lagos.

He revealed at the Nigerian Telecommunications Indigenous Content Expo (NTICE) organized by the Nigeria Office for Developing Indigenous Telecoms Sector (NODITS) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Pantami said Africa’s largest economy ought not be bringing in things that could be produced within.

“Allow me to clarify that the federal government will never again allow the importation of sim cards. We are presently now them in Nigeria.”

“Our point is to increase local productivity in the ICT area so that by 2025, we will be confident by no less than 80%”, the Minister noted.

Pantami encouraged partners and residents to help government leaders to assist neighborhood support and utilization.

“Assuming we do this, history will be caring to us all”, the professor of Cybersecurity added.”

In June, Pantami informed the public that the Buhari administration had laid out a SIM card producing plant in Lagos.

The facility, built with private sector support, has the capacity to produce 200 million cards annually and also export them to other African countries.