FG sets June 30 as deadline for NIN-SIM Card Verification

The Federal Government has approved the extension of the deadline for NIN-SIM data verification to June 30, 2021, as 54 million people have, till date, obtained their National Identification Numbers (NIN) according to official numbers.

The extension was made during a virtual meeting chaired by the minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, and attended by the chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Adeolu Akande, the executive vice-chairman/CEO of NCC, Umar Dambatta and the director-general/CEO of the National Identity Management Commission, (NIMC), Aliyu Azeez.

The shift in the deadline was based on the request by stakeholders to allow all citizens and legal residents to register.

NCC in a statement signed by its spokesperson Ikechukwu Adinde, on Tuesday, 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.

He further informed that 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.

“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’ he concluded.

It is noteworthy that Sections 27 and 29 of the National Identity Management Commission Act 2007 provides for the mandatory use of NIN 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.

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.