The federal government has extended the ongoing national
identification number (NIN) and subscriber identity module (SIM) integration
exercise till June 30.
Isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy,
gave the directive according to a statement jointly signed by Ikechukwu Adinde,
director of public affairs at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and
Kayode Adegoke, head of corporate communications at the National Identity
Management Commission (NIMC).
This development is coming two days before the May 6
deadline earlier announced by the federal government.
According to the statement, the extension was granted after
a virtual meeting between Pantami, Adeolu Akande, NCC chairman; Umar Garba
Dambatta, executive vice president of NCC, and Aliyu Azeez, director-general of
NIMC.
The federal government said 54 million Nigerians with an
estimated 190 million mobile numbers have obtained their NIN.
It said the extension was granted based on stakeholders’
request and to give Nigerians more time to engage in the exercise.
“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,” the statement said.
“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 government said NIN is important for accessing public
services in line with sections 27 and 29 of the NIMC Act, 2007.
It said it is similar to the social security number and the
national insurance number in the United States and the United Kingdom
respectively.
“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,” it said.
“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.
“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.
“Dr Pantami wishes to thank Nigerians for their patience and
compliance with the Federal Government’s directive on the NIN-SIM registration
exercise. He again 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.”
This is the fifth time the NIN-SIM linkage exercise will be
extended.
January 19 was the initial deadline, but it was moved to
February 9, April 6, May 6, and now June 30.
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