By Na’ankwat Dariem, Abuja
The Nigerian Communications Commission has disclosed that
47.8 million National Identity Numbers, NINs have been submitted by telecommunication companies for verification in order to have them linked with their respective Subscriber Identification Modules.
In a statement signed by the Director Public Affairs, NCC, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde said so far, a total of 47.8 million NINs have been collected by the mobile operators at an average of three to four SIMs per subscriber. This means many millions will be linked up before the deadline in February 2021.
According to him, at the end of a review meeting on January 18 2021, the Technical Implementation Committee under the Ministerial Task Force had reported significant progress in the ongoing NIN-SIM linkage exercise.
Reacting to the report, the Minister Communications and Digital Economy Dr. Isa Pantami, expressed satisfaction with this commendable achievement and expressed the Government’s appreciation for the commitment demonstrated by all stakeholders and citizens and urged them to submit their NINs before February 9 2021 deadline
The Minister urged the technical team to fast-track the processes so that the project is delivered soonest.
The Technical Committee drew attention to the App developed by Federal Government of Nigeria, which allows subscribers to link up to a maximum of seven SIMs to their NIN.
Dr. Pantami also encouraged Nigerians to secure and protect their NINs and urged subscribers to desist from selling their NINs or allowing others to use their NINs for registration.
“For any action committed with the SIM, good or bad, it will be officially traced and attached to the NIN owner,” the Minister said.
Nneka Ukachukwu
