Tobias Sylvester
The Nigerian Government has extended the ongoing National Identification Number (NIN) and Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) integration exercise till June 30, 2021.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, disclosed this in a statement jointly signed by the Director, Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Ikechukwu Adinde; and the Head, Corporate Communications, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Kayode Ade.
The decision was taken at a virtual meeting attended by Pantami, as well as the Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Adeolu Akande; the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of NCC, Umar Dambatta; and the Director-General/CEO of NIMC, Aliyu Azeez.
In the statement titled, “NIN Enrolment Reaches 54 Million as FG Approves 30th of June as NIN-SIM Verification Deadline”, Pantami said 54 million Nigerians with an estimated 190 million mobile numbers have obtained their NIN.
“The postponement of the deadline was also based on the request by stakeholders for an extension till 30th of June in order to make it easier for all citizens and legal residents to register.
“Significant progress has been made in the NIN-SIM verification process. For example, almost 54 Million people have obtained their NIN and this can translate to up to 190 million mobile numbers, since empirical evidence suggests that each unique NIN maps to 3 to 4 phone lines,
“The much awaited Android enrolment system is now ready for deployment and this has the potential to significantly accelerate the speed and ease of enrolments.
“Furthermore, the telecom providers and other enrolment agents have also opened several centres across the country to make it easier for eligible citizens and residents to obtain and link their NINs.
“It is noteworthy that Sections 27 and 29 of the National Identity Management Commission Act 2007 provides for the mandatory use of National Identity Number for accessing several government services.
“This is similar to the use of Social Security Number and National Insurance Number for accessing services in the United States of America and the United Kingdom respectively.
“The Federal Government has approved the extension as part of its effort to make it easier for its citizens and residents to obtain the NIN and it is important to take advantage of the extension,” the statement partly reads.
This development is coming two days before the May 6 deadline earlier announced by the federal government for the NIN-SIM data linkage.
