NIN: FG extends deadline for SIM linkage

Posted on February 2, 2021

The ongoing National Identification Number (NIN) and Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) integration exercise has been extended by eight weeks, with a new deadline of April 6, 2021.

This message was conveyed by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), FNCS, FBCS, FIIM during the meeting of the Ministerial Taskforce on NIN-SIM registration which held on February 1 2021.In a statement signed by the Director of Public Affairs, NCC, Dr. Ike Adinde and Head of Corporate Communications, NIMC, Kayode Adegoke, made available Tuesday, Pantami stated that the extension is to give Nigerians and legal residents more time to integrate their NIN with the SIM.

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.

This is in line with the policy of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to enhance security and make the process of obtaining NINs easier for Nigerians.

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The CEOs of the Telcos and the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Organisation of Nigeria commended the Honourable Minister for his stellar leadership and commitment to the rapid development of the sector.

The Federal Government of Nigeria applauds all Nigerians and persons of other nationalities for their understanding, cooperation and for enthusiastically participating in the exercise. The Honourable Minister also commended the efforts of NIMC, NCC, MNOs and all other relevant government and private sector organisations for their unflinching support towards the success of the exercise.

President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed his satisfaction with the progress made regarding the NIN-SIM linkage and commended the Honourable Minister and all stakeholders for their roles. He encouraged citizens to take advantage of the extension to fully participate in the process.