Deadline for NIN-SIM card Linkage has been Extended to May 6

The Federal Government has extended by one month the deadline for Nigerians to link their National Identification Numbers (NINs) to their SIMs.

This detail was announced in a press statement released on Friday, April 2, 2021. It was signed jointly by Ikechukwu Adinde, Director of Public Affairs at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and Kayode Adegoke, Head of Corporate Communications at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC). According to the release, over 51 million people currently have NINs, with a substantial rise in monthly enrolment.

The Ministerial Task Force on NIN-SIM data linkage and main stakeholders met in Abuja on Thursday and agreed to extend the date of the NIN-SIM linkage to May 6.

The statement partly reads, “Based on the updates of the NIN-registration process, over 51 million people have been assigned NINs. Many people have enrolled and are in the process of being assigned NINs. 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.

The current number of monthly enrollments has 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 enrollments. There are also many more new centres in the pipeline.

While speaking at the conference, the EFCC boss said that the NIN-SIM card connection will help the Federal Government’s efforts to curb the activities of fraudsters and cybercriminals.