EFCC declares Yahaya Bello wanted over alleged N80bn ‘financial crimes’
FG extends NIN-SIM linkage by one month, deadline May 6
By Modupe Shodeinde
The Federal Government on Friday, announced extension of the deadline for the registration, verification and linkage of National Identity Number (NIN) to Subscribers Identification Module (SIM) cards by additional one month.
The deadline which was earlier pegged for April 6 has been extended till May 6 to ensure that Nigerians who are yet to complete the NIN-SIM registration can do so, failure of which their SIM cards could be blocked.
The new deadline date was announced in a joint statement signed by both the Director of Public Affairs at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, and Head of Corporate Communications, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Kayode Adegoke.
According to the statement, over 51 million people have been assigned NINs, while many have enrolled and in the process of being assigned NINs.
The Commissions explained that 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 decision to extend the deadline was arrived at after a meeting yesterday, which had the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, and other industry stakeholders in attendance.
The minister explained that the request for the extension was presented to President Muhammadu Buhari and he endorsed it.
However, Guardian reports that industry watchers are worried that the new deadline might lead to contempt of court proceedings, at the government’s statement only extended the period by one month without recourse to the court ruling, which extended it by two months on Wednesday.
According to them, the former vice president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Monday Onyekachi Ubani, had approached the Federal High Court in Lagos on the matter and secured a ruling that extended the deadline by two months.
