The October 31st deadline for NIN-SIM data verification has been shifted to the last day of 2021.
This was made known to newsmen, on Saturday, in a statement jointly signed by Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, Director, Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Mr. Kayode Adegoke, Head, Corporate Communications, Nigerian Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
According to the statement entitled, ‘Stakeholders Applaud the NIN-SIM Verification Exercise as FG Urges Citizens and Legal Residents to Enrol before the End of the Year’ and published on NCC’s website, the deadline extension was in response to requests from industry stakeholders.
The document read in part, “The Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) has conveyed the approval of the Federal Government to extend of the deadline for the National Identity Number (NIN)-Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) data verification. Citizens and legal residents are urged to complete the process before the end of the year 2021.”
The statement continued, “The decision to extend the deadline was made further to appeals by the Mobile Network Operators and other industry stakeholders, soliciting for a further extension to ensure better compliance with government’s directive and to avoid widening the digital divide.
“The extension would also provide the enabling environment for the registration of Nigerians in remote areas, diaspora, schools, hospitals, worship centres, as well as foreigners, diplomatic missions, those in other areas that were hitherto unreachable, and increase enrolments in countries with a significant number of Nigerians.”
It also stated that “As of October 30, 2021, there were over 9,500 enrolment systems and over 8,000 NIN enrolment centres within and outside the country- this has significantly eased the NIN enrolment process and subsequent linkage of NIN to SIM.”
Applauding the success of the SIM registration and data capturing project, the statement went further to state that, “The unique 66 million NIN enrolments, with an average of 3 to 4 SIMs linked to the NIN, is a testament to the commitment and dedication of the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), to ensure the success of the project.
“With the creation of additional NIN enrolment centres within and outside the country, and many more coming up, the remaining citizens and legal residents living in the country and the diaspora should be able to obtain their NINs and link them with their SIMs before the end of the year.”
The statement concluded by urging both citizens and legal residents to ensure they avail themselves of the opportunities presented in the different authorized enrolment centres to get their SIMs registered and consequently have their data captured on NIMC’s data bank.
Azuka Edokobi is a Writer , a Farmer, a Supply Chain Expert and an Entrepreneur
