The federal government has extended the ongoing national identification number (NIN) and subscriber identity module (SIM) integration exercise till June 30.
Isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy, gave the directive according to a statement jointly signed by Ikechukwu Adinde, director of public affairs at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and Kayode Adegoke, head of corporate communications at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
This development is coming two days before the May 6 deadline earlier announced by the federal government.
According to the statement, the extension was granted after a virtual meeting between Pantami, Adeolu Akande, NCC chairman; Umar Garba Dambatta, executive vice president of NCC, and Aliyu Azeez, director-general of NIMC.
The federal government said 54 million Nigerians with an estimated 190 million mobile numbers have obtained their NIN.
It said the extension was granted based on stakeholders’ request and to give Nigerians more time to engage in the exercise.
“The postponement of the deadline was also based on the request by stakeholders for an extension till 30th of June in order to make it easier for all citizens and legal residents to register,” the statement 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.”
The government said NIN is important for accessing public services in line with sections 27 and 29 of the NIMC Act, 2007.
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