BREAKING: FG extends NIN-SIM linkage by eight weeks

The ongoing National Identification Number and Subscriber Identity Module integration exercise has been extended by eight weeks, the Federal Government announced on Tuesday morning.

The new deadline was given as April 6, 2021.

A statement jointly signed by the spokesmen for the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Identity Management Commission NIMC, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, and Mr Kayode Adegoke, respectively, said the decision to extend the date was reached at a meeting of stakeholders with the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy,  Dr Isa Pantami.

Pantami stated that the extension is to give Nigerians and legal residents more time to integrate their NIN with the SIM, the statement said.

It added that the meeting was chaired by the 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 COO of Globacom.

The statement reads: ” It was reported that a total of 56.18 million NINs have been collected by the mobile network operators.

“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.

“This number of NINs collected represents a significant increase when compared with the 47.8 million reported by the Technical Committee on January 18, 2021.

“Furthermore, over 1060 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.”