The federal government yesterday approved the extension of extended the deadline for the ongoing linking of Subscriber Identification Modules (SIM) with valid National Identification Number (NIN by one month.
Spokesman for the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Mr. Kayode Adegoke announced this in a statement.
He said the deadline was extended from April 6, 2021, to May 6, 2021, after participants at the meeting of the ministerial task force on NIN-SIM data linking agreed to have an extension of the process.
“The meeting took place on Thursday, April 1, 2021, and approval was given to extend the period of the NIN-SIM linkage to the 6th of May, 2021.
“The request for the extension was presented to President Muhammadu Buhari and he endorsed it.”
Chaired by the minister of communications and digital economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, the meeting was attended by key stakeholders, including the NIMC, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON)
Others were the managing directors of MTN, Airtel, EMTS (9Mobile), NTEL, Spectranet and SMILE, as well as the chief operating officer of Glo.
Meanwhile, the minister said there was no plan to lift the ban on new SIM registration soon for obvious security reasons.
He said the government had planned to ensure that in the next two years, the country will have a database.
He added that when it came to addressing the issue of security, the economy takes back stage.
He also said it is an offence to pay taxes, have voters’ card or even pay pension without the NIN adding that SIM registration carried out in the past compromised the system.
“President Muhammadu Buhari gives priority to security because it is our number one primary responsibility as a government.
“The ban on SIM may affect our economy in some ways but when addressing the issue of security, the issue of economy is second because you have to protect your citizens before you talk of economy.
“The decision was taken in order to ensure that we contribute our quota in making our country safe and secure for all. We know it’s painful but it’s necessary,” he added.
Recall that on December 15, 2020, the federal government declared that after December 30, 2020, all SIMs that were not registered with valid NINs on the network of telecommunications companies would be blocked.
It later extended the deadline following widespread opposition against the earlier announcement and gave three weeks’ extension for subscribers with NIN from December 30, 2020, to January 19, 2021.
It also gave six weeks’ extension for subscribers without NIN from December 30, 2020, to February 9, 2021.
But many organisations called for a further deadline extension or outright suspension of the NIN registration process due to the large crowds who had yet to get their NINs.
On February 2, 2021, the government extended the deadline to April 6, 2021.
