The Federal government of Nigeria, have once again, moved the NIN-SIM linkage deadline for yet another three months. The new deadline date is now October 31st 2021.
According to the Federal Government, the decision to extend the NIN-SIM linkage deadline followed a request by stakeholders to accommodate registration in hard-to-reach areas, foreigners and diplomatic missions, diaspora, and address low enrolments in schools and hospitals, as evidenced by enrolment statistics.
Also, the decision followed a review of the progress of the exercise which indicated significant progress, hence, the need to consolidate the gains of the enrolment, and NIN-SIM verification process across the country.
This was disclosed in a statement on Sunday jointly signed by the Director of Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ike Adinde, and Head of Corporate Communications, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Kayode Adegoke.
The statement noted that as of July 24th, there were over 5,500 enrolment systems within and outside the country, noting that this would significantly ease the NIN enrolment process and subsequent linkage of NIN to SIM.
The statement noted that the NIN-SIM linkage makes it easier for the security agencies to carry out their statutory duties, and enabled the relevant parastatals under the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy to support them as required.
It disclosed that there are now a total of 59.8 million NIN enrolments, with an average of three to four SIMs per NIN.
According to the statement, NCC boss, Prof Umar Garba Dambatta, and the Director-General of the NIMC, Engr Aliyu Azeez, urged citizens and legal residents to maximise the opportunity to complete the enrolment and verification process before the October 31 deadline.