…As FG approves June 30 as new deadline
The Federal Government has approved the extension of the deadline for NIN-SIM data verification to June 30, 2021. This is even as it acknowledged that significant progress has been made in the verification process with almost 54 million people captured in the exercise.
The extension is sequel to the request by stakeholders for an extension till June 30 in order to make it easier for all citizens and legal residents to register, it said.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami had presided over a virtual meeting attended by chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Adeolu Akande, the executive vice chairman/CEO of NCC, Prof. Umar Dambatta and the director-general/CEO of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Engr. Aliyu Azeez among others at which the issue was deliberated on.
A statement jointly signed by the director, public affairs of the NCC, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde and the head, corporate communications of the National Identity Management Commission, Mr Kayode Adegoke said the about 54 million people captured in the exercise translated to up to 190 million mobile numbers, with empirical evidence suggesting that each unique NIN maps to 3 to 4 phone lines.
It disclosed that the much-awaited Android enrolment system is now ready for deployment, pointing out that the system has the potential to significantly accelerate the speed and ease of enrolments.
The statement also said telecom providers and other enrolment agents had 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,” it further stated.
Saying the Federal Government approved the extension as part of effort to make it easier for its citizens and residents to obtain the NIN, the statement urged the people to take advantage of the extension to be part of the exercise.
It reiterated government’s commitment to continually take decisions aimed at easing the pains of the citizens with regard to issues related to NIN and SIM registration, adding “Pantami wishes to thank Nigerians for their patience and compliance with the directive on the NIN-SIM registration exercise.”
