FG Sets April 6 As New Deadline To Link SIMS With NIN

Dr. 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.

Communications and Digital Economy Minister, Isa Ali Pantami, / Photo credit: Wikipedia
Communications and Digital Economy Minister, Isa Ali Pantami, / Photo credit: Wikipedia

The Federal on Monday extended the ongoing National Identification Number (NIN) and Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) integration exercise has been by eight weeks.

The new deadline is now April 6, 2021, according to a statement jointly signed by Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, Director, Public Affairs, of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Kayode Adegoke, Head, Corporate Communications of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

February 4, 2020 was the former date of the commencement of the National NIN-SIM Registration Policy.

The statement noted that Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, disclosed this during the meeting of the Ministerial Taskforce on NIN-SIM registration held on February 1, 2021.
“Dr. Pantami stated that the extension is to give Nigerians and legal residents more time to integrate their NIN with the SIM.

READ ALSO: GSM Operators Collect 47.8m NINs Ahead Of NCC Deadline

“The meeting was chaired by the Honourable Minister and attended by 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) and the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON). Others include the MD/CEOs of MTN, Airtel, 9Mobile, Ntel, Spectranet and SMILE, as well as the Chief Operating Officers (COO) of Globacom,” they said.

They added that a total of 56.18 million NINs have been collected by the mobile network operators and that each NIN is usually tied to an average of 3 to 4 SIMs and this infers that the current figure accounts for a significant portion of the existing SIMs.

“Furthermore, over 1, 060 registration centres for NIN have been activated and made operational by NIMC across the country, while Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have opened hundreds of centres and are rapidly deploying resources to open thousands of other NIN enrolment centres across states of the country.

“This is in line with the policy of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to enhance security and make the process of obtaining NINs easier for Nigerians,” they stated.

Dr. 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.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria applauds all Nigerians and persons of other nationalities for their understanding, cooperation and for enthusiastically participating in the exercise.

“The Honourable 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,” the statement added.

The Interview Editors

Written by The Interview Editors

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