The Federal Government has further extended the deadline for subscribers linking their National Identity Number (NIN) to their SIM numbers by one month. The exercise was earlier scheduled to end on April 6.
This was the outcome of the meeting by the Ministerial Task Force on NIN-SIM data linkage, chaired by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami in Abuja recently.
The meeting which also had in attendance, key stakeholders, including the EVC/CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), DG/CEO of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), DG/CEO of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Representative of the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON). Others included the NCC Executive Commissioners Technical Services and Stakeholder Management, MD/CEOs of MTN, Airtel, EMTS (9Mobile), NTEL, Spectranet and SMILE, as well as the COO of Globacom, also revealed that the NIN Database has recorded registration in excess of 51 million.
Dr. Pantami revealed that a request for the extension of the NIN-SIM linkage deadline was presented to President Muhammadu Buhari and he endorsed a new deadline of May 6, 2021
A statement jointly signed by the Director, Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde and Head, Corporate Communications, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Mr Kayode Adegoke annoiunced that “based on the updates of the NIN-registration process, over 51 million people have been assigned NINs. There are many people, who have enrolled and are in the process of being assigned NINs. With each individual having an average of 3 to 4 SIMs, the total number of SIMs tied to NINs would be close to the total number of registered SIMs in the country. “
It further noted that the current number of monthly enrolments has increased significantly to about 2.6 million registrations, with remarkable increase in the number of enrolment centres across the country totalling about 3,800 centres. The statement disclosed that the commission also have plans to create more centres.
The Chairman of the EFCC addressed the meeting and stated that the NIN-SIM linkage would support the Federal Government in checkmating the activities of fraudsters and cybercriminals.
Dr. Pantami noted the importance of obtaining feedback from all stakeholders in order to ensure that the NIN-SIM linkage process is one that cannot easily be compromised.
While thanking Nigerians for their patience and compliance with the Federal Government’s directive on the NIN-SIM registration exercise, he reiterated government’s commitment to continually taking decisions aimed at easing the pains of the citizens with regard to issues related to NIN and SIM registration.
