Aduragbemi Omiyale
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The deadline for the National Identity Number (NIN) SIM card verification exercise has again been extended by the federal government by four weeks.
The NIN-SIM verification exercise was supposed to end on Wednesday, June 30, 2021, but a joint statement issued on Tuesday, June 29, 2021, in Abuja disclosed that Nigerians now have till July 29, 2021, to link their SIM cards to their NINs.
In the statement signed by the Mr Ikechukwu Adinde, the Director of Public Affairs at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Mr Kayode Adegoke, the Head of Corporate Communications at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) said the extension was approved by the government after a request by stakeholders on the need to consolidate the enrolment and NIN-SIM verification process, following the rapid increase in the number of enrolment systems across the country.
It was stated that as at Monday, June 28, 2021, a total of 5,410 enrolment systems are now available across the country, higher than 800 as at December 2020, noting that this would significantly ease the NIN enrolment process and subsequent linkage of NIN to SIM.
According to the statement, 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.
The statement said a total of 57.3 million unique NIN enrolments, with an average of 3 to 4 SIMs per NIN, has now been recorded.
In the statement, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Mr Isa Pantami, was said to have thanked Nigerians for their patience and compliance with the federal government’s directive on the NIN-SIM registration exercise.
Also, the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Mr Umar Garba Dambatta, and the Director-General/CEO of NIMC, Mr Aliyu Azeez, were said to have appealed to citizens and legal residents of the country to make sure they use the opportunity to complete the process of enrolment and verification.
