The federal government has approved the extension of the deadline for the National Identification Number -Subscriber Identity Module (NIN-SIM) data verification until July, 26, 2021.
This is contained in a statement signed by the spokesperson of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr IKechukwu Adinde on Tuesday.
The statement co-signed by Mr Kayode Adegoke, Head of Corporate Communications, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), said the extension followed requests made by stakeholders.
The federal government also approved the increase in enrolment system to 5, 410.
“The decision to extend the deadline was made after a request by stakeholders on the need to consolidate the enrolment and NIN-SIM verification process following the rapid increase in the number of enrolment systems across the country.
“As at June 28, 2021, a total of 5,410 enrolment systems are now available across the country and this would significantly ease the NIN enrolment process and subsequent linkage of NIN to SIM.
“It is worthy to note that there were only about 800 of such enrolment systems as at December 2020,” it said.
The federal government had approved the extension as part of its effort to make it easier for its citizens and residents to obtain the NIN and it is important to take advantage of the extension.
It said that there were a total of 57.3 million unique NIN enrolments, with an average of three to four SIMs per NIN.
With the great number of enrolment centres across the country, every citizen and legal resident should be able to obtain their NINs,” the statement said.
It quoted the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantai saying, the Federal Government, appreciates Nigerians for their patience and compliance with its directive on the NIN-SIM registration exercise.
The the statement further quoted the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof Umar Dambatta, and the Director-General of NIMC, Aliyu Azeez, urging citizens and legal residents to make sure they use the opportunity to complete the process of enrolment and verification.
On May 4, the federal government extended the NIN-SIM integration exercise until June 30.
January 19 was the initial deadline, but it was moved to Feb. 9, April 6, May 6, June 30 and now July 26.
