The update by the Ministerial Task Force on the NIN-SIM data linkage shows that over 51 million people have been assigned the National Identity Number (NIN), even as the current number of monthly enrolments has increased significantly to about 2.6 million registrations.
The update was given yesterday when the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, chaired a meeting that was attended by key stakeholders, including the EVC/CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), DG/CEO of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), DG/CEO of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Representative of the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) were also in attendance.
Others included the NCC Executive Commissioners Technical Services and Stakeholder Management, MD/CEOs of MTN, Airtel, EMTS (9Mobile), NTEL, Spectranet and SMILE, as well as the COO of Glo.
Based on the updates of the NIN registration process, there are many people, who have enrolled and are in the process of being assigned NINs. With each individual having an average of 3 to 4 SIMs, the total number of SIMs tied to NINs would be close to the total number of registered SIMs in the country.
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.
Meanwhile, a request to extend the deadline for enrollment to 6th of May, 2021 has been endorsed by President Muhammadu Buhari.