The federal government has again approved the extension of the deadline for NIN-SIM data verification to July 26, 2021.
This is the fifth time this year that the deadline would be extended.
The decision to extend the deadline was made 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, a joint statement by the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) said on Tuesday.
“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.
“There are now a total of 57.3 million unique NIN enrolments, with an average of 3 to 4 SIMs per NIN.
“With the great number of enrolment centres across the country, every citizen and legal resident should be able to obtain their NINs”, the statement signed by NCC’s Ikechukwu Adinde and NIMC’s Kayode Adegoke said.
They said the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, on behalf of the federal government, commended Nigerians for their patience and compliance with the federal government’s directive on the NIN-SIM registration exercise.
They equally quoted the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof Umar Garba Dambatta, and the Director-General/CEO of that NIMC, Engr Aliyu Azeez, as urging Nigerians and legal residents to make sure they use the opportunity to complete the process of enrolment and verification.
The joint statement said as of June 28, 2021, a total of 5,410 enrolment systems were now available across the country and “this would significantly ease the NIN enrolment process and subsequent linkage of NIN to SIM.”
It is worthy of note that there were only about 800 such enrolment systems as of December 2020, the statement added.
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