Nigerian government has extended the National Identification Number-Subscriber Identification Module linkage by one month.
Disclosing this on Friday, the Nigerian Communications Commission stated that over 51 million people have been assigned NINs.
In the statement, co-signed by its Director of Public Affairs, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde and Head of Corporate Communications at the National Identity Management Commission, Mr Kayode Adegoke, NCC noted that many people had enrolled and were in the process of being assigned NINs.
It said an approval was given to extend the period of the NIN-SIM linkage to May 6, 2021.
“The request for the extension was presented to President Muhammadu Buhari and he endorsed it.
“With each individual having an average of three to four SIMs, the total number of SIMs tied to NINs would be close to the total number of registered SIMs in the country,” NCC said.
The commission also disclosed that the number of monthly enrolments increased “significantly” to about 2.6 million registrations.
“There has also been a remarkable increase in the number of enrolment centres across the country with about 3,800 centres available for enrolments. There are also many more new centres in the pipeline,” it said.
The statement added that the decision was taken at a meeting presided over by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, and attended by key stakeholders in the industry.
