The Federal Government has extended the deadline of the ongoing National Identification Number (NIN) and Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) integration exercise by eight weeks, setting April 6, 2021 as final date for subscribers’ full compliance with its directive on the exercise.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, gave this hint during the meeting of the Ministerial Taskforce on NIN-SIM registration held on February 1, 2021.
He explained that the extension of the deadline was aimed at enabling Nigerians and legal residents more time to integrate their NIN with SIMs.
Pantami reiterated the need for Nigerians and legal residents, who are yet to register for the NIN, to be diligent and take advantage of the extension to enrol for their NIN and link with their SIMs.
It was disclosed at the meeting that a total of 56.18 million NINs had been connected by the mobile network operators thus far.
The Minister also commended the efforts of NIMC, NCC, MNOs and all other relevant government and private sector organisations for their unflinching support towards the success of the exercise.
This is even as he implored applicants to follow the safety guidelines at all the NIN enrolment centers and ensure compliance with the booking system in place, adding that the protocol is in line with the Executive Order on COVID-19 2020 signed by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 27th of January 2021, in keeping with the provisions of the Quarantine Act 2004.
The CEOs of the telcos and the Chairman of the ALTON commended the Minister for his stellar leadership and commitment to the rapid development of the sector.
It would be recalled that the 4th of February, 2020 was the initial date of the commencement of the National NIN-SIM Registration Policy.
To facilitate the entire registration process, over 1, 060 registration centres for NIN had been activated and made operational by NIMC across the country, while Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) had also opened centres and are rapidly deploying resources to open thousands of other NIN enrolment centres across states of the country.
Sections 27 and 29 of the NIMC Act 2007 provides for the mandatory use of NIN for transactions, including application and issuance of a passport, opening of personal bank accounts, purchase of insurance policies, voter registration, obtaining credit, among others.
The meeting was attended by top executives and other key stakeholders in the telecommunications sector.
