Witness narrates how Ex-HoS, allies diverted public funds to private companies in court
I didn’t say Nigerians without NIN risk 14 years imprisonment–Pantami
By Modupe Shodeinde
The minister of communication and digital economy, has denied reports that he said Nigerians who do not have National Identity Numbers risked imprisonment.
The minister in a tweet on his Twitter page on Thursday said he was quoted out of context.
Pantami said he did not mention 14 years imprisonment, adding that he stated that the National Information Management Commission (NIMC) has been 14 years in existence since 2007.
“This has been quoted out of context. Pantami has not mentioned “14 years imprisonment.” But said NIMC has been 14 years in existence, since 2007.
“Since the session has been recorded by journalists. It is better to release the video for public to listen to it, please. Best wishes!” the tweet read.
Earlier on Thursday, reports have it that the minister at the weekly presidential media briefing organised by the Presidential Communication Media Team in Abuja on Thursday, April 1, said that Nigerians without NIN risk 14 years imprisonment.
He said, “Based on the requirement of the law, each and every citizen and legal resident must obtain his/her National Identification Number, which is being coordinated by the National Identity Management Commission.
“It is a requirement by law but many citizens ignore it.”
The Punch reported that the minister also disclosed that as of Wednesday, 51 million NINs had been fully enrolled.
“What we achieved in the area of enrollment from the time Mr President directed me to supervise NIMC till date is unprecedented and we will continue to ensure that in the next few years, we have an almost complete data base of all our citizens in the country.
Pantami stated that no country will be successful in education, health, budget planning or national planning without data base of its citizens in place.
He noted that what he inherited in the database was less than 20% of our population, assuring that he wants to ensure that before he leaves office, he would look at the database and be proud of the country.
Pantami announced that about 189 million Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) have been registered in the country.
He said the improper registration has posed a challenge, but stated that the government was currently dealing with the situation.
The minister also said there was no plan to lift the ban on new Subscriber Identification Modules registration any time soon for security reasons.
According to the minister, when it comes to addressing the issue of security, the economy takes the back stage.
He said, “The ban on new SIMs remains in place for security reasons. We know this ban is painful but very necessary.
“In the past, SIMs registration process were compromised; most of the SIMs were improperly registered, hence we have most of them used to commit crimes in the country.
“So, what we are doing now is matching all the SIMs with NIN. This has become necessary for security purposes.”
